Exploring the neighborhood and the woods on my property. Learning to identify species is my hobbies at the moment. My main focus is on plants, since they tend to hold still while I examine them. I am also an avid gardener, and I like to use native plants as much as possible. For the last year, I’ve been working on a shade / woodland garden, including many (common & non-threatened) ferns, sedges, and wildflowers from the wooded acres we own.

I’m still not great at identifying even common plants, but I am working on it. I try to take photos of many aspects of a plant, including close-ups. The goal is to capture all the details needed to work through an identification key after the outing is over.

I really appreciate any help or tips from others with more knowledge. Identifications are helpful, but the “how did you know” is better. If I didn’t capture a feature needed for an ID, I’d love to know that as well.