Oklahoma, Eastern Oklahoma State College, College, Campus How To Get Better at Plant Identification

I think nursery here somewhere in near sarasota, south of tampa florida uh, but we’re gon na tour around the nursery we’re gon na talk about plant identification in this video and how to get better at plant identification. No matter where you live, so i get asked all the time. How does somebody get better at you know identifying plants and learning about plants, and i went to i went to a community college in a landscape design build program at columbus state columbus, ohio had a great horticultural program back 10 15 years ago. It may still be good, i don’t know, but actually the same people are so i presume to be just as good, but we you know we would do plant walks through school and uh. We would go on campus and our professor would say this is a you know. This is a southern magnolia or whatever now we’re in columbus, ohio, so we’re dealing with. Obviously, you know zone five plants, but although we southern mags would grow up there and just had to be in really protected spots, but the key to a good landscape, uh planting project is the right plant in the right location, so take into consideration what type of Soils you have what the drainage is like uh, you know what the shade and sunlight situation is. So is the place in what direction it’s facing so it’s facing north east southwest or a combination which, how much shade you know, is this area going to get in a day? Does it get morning? Sun is good afternoon sun, which is really big.

You know. Is it open? Is it shady in the morning and then gets hammered by the afternoon sun? And so you you got to plant to that exposure, essentially because that’s the hottest part of the day and the like hosta, which are an herbaceous perennial they’re, really going to get beat to death and uh they’re you’re, going to need irrigation or you’re just playing on Them they are going to look bad and they may ultimately fail. So you got to keep those kind of things in mind, and so, if you don’t want to take – and i would recommend if you’ve got a good community called engineering and it’s got a good horticultural program set in on a couple plant uh, you know a couple Good plant uh courses and take those plant walks and do the you know, learn how to plant do that. You know learn about plants, learn plan id from there. You don’t have to get the degree and piece of paper to have. You know actual good knowledge and information that you can monetize, then through better landscape installs. The next thing is, i recommend people go to you know your local landscape supplier, landscape nursery and do your own plant tours and the plants are going to be labeled. Most of them are going to have plant tags and stuff like that, especially like the residential uh, or you know, the consumer. You know plant nurseries, most of stuff they sell, is going to grow in your region, some of us a little more fickle than other plants or whatever, but again that’s all part of, like learning and so i’m going to recommend you like go.

Take a you know. Every saturday, for you know two months go, you know, tour your local nurseries and start walking through there and paying attention to the tag and the plant and identify it and stick it in your head. Pay attention to like areas like this, where, if it’s under a shade, canopy cans, are pretty good it’s a plant that’s going to be more, you know more shade, loving, let’s, say and not isn’t going to want to be out in full sun getting roached. If you put that in your design, you put shade perennials out in an area, it’s got full sun it’s going to need a ton of air, a ton of irrigation or it’s not going to grow at all, possibly too. So you want to again that’s where the right plant, the right location, is really important. So you want to be taking a walk around just you know paying attention what the plant is. What its characteristics are, you know woody, you know woody perennials and trees and shrubs are going to be your easiest to identify for the most part, um and you know, go from there, so just walking through paying attention. You know little things like you know what the the arrangement of the plant itself is so like if these, so these are uh let’s see here i’m trying to find two. So these are considered not a great example, but because it’s not an alternate or an opposite.

Uh thing it’s got like an azalea look to. I don’t know anything about florida floriculture at all florida plants. Uh like this thing for for the sake i don’t know what the heck it is, but this would be an alternate alternate growth, so these stems and buds are alternate of each other instead of opposite. So, instead of being like, you know, well hell there’s one there. One there, but, for the most part, the growth is like an alternate growth pattern. So again, just taking a walk through so here’s here’s, a plant tag, here’s uh live oak, and so i believe that’s quercus, virginia anus, so you’ve got the common name and the latin name of trees and shrubs and all plants, and even medical and stuff, like that. Latin is used because it’s a dead language it’s, not um, it doesn’t change or evolve like essentially how we, how we speak now is not how we spoke 100 years ago right. We talk about things being lit and fire and all that now, while in the past it may have been why that plant is quite a grower and you know our speaking changes and our colloquialisms change. But latin is a dead language, so that’s why latin is used in the horticulture world, the medical world and actually law too. So you know so there’s, the the latin or the scientific name and then there’s the common name. You want to be careful using the common name, because you know what might be a red oak here in florida is not a red oak in ohio.

But if i say quercus rubra that it quercus is the is the oak family and rubra is going to be the uh, the species, so red oak, so in general, like people are going to okay, i know what a quercus rubra is yeah, so um, you know. So you want to learn the latin name too, as much as you can, but even just getting off the ground. Okay, that’s, an avocado check that out see like these things. I don’t know these things so i’m learning too that’s an avocado plant there, how cool, and so you know, that’s how you’re going to learn these plants and if i move to florida or wherever in the world, i might move to texas oklahoma florida. Freedom, loving states, montana, you know that’s what i’m going to do and i’m going to join i’m, going to consider joining like the florida landscape and nursery association or the texas nursery landscape association, or at least i’m going to get on there and see what references and Resources they have available for, like what is you know: what’s horticulturally, appropriate in the area, so they’re going to sell and they’re gon na sell and have like books and pamphlets and things to help you study, give your own staff teach them how you know to uh How to identify trees and shrubs, and things like that so, but i also if i was totally changing areas like that. You know i’m gon na immerse myself in being the best at whatever i take on no matter where i’m at so that’s, one of the things i’m going to do.

I bet you. This is a type of hibiscus i want. I would bet you i’m red hibiscus. Hey there we go cool red hibiscus, so you know a lot of plants will be northern and southern, and even western and eastern are going to have similar habits like that’s, just something i recognize there so yeah. So i mean that’s kind of that’s the thing so that’s what we that’s, what i say that’s what i tell people that’s my long answer so um. If you like this content, you want to know more about it. Follow along like and subscribe check out our youtube channel tick, tock snapchat! So with that said, whatever you do, do it with all your heart: do it the best you can and just don’t, stop learning, studying and being a master of your craft? What do you want to be exceptional at that’s? The number one thing i think in life.