NEW DATE: March 14th

Join SHLT staff member Guy Maguire to learn all about identifying trees and shrubs in winter! This indoor/outdoor workshop will start in the SHLT office where we’ll learn the basics about winter botany through a hands-on activity. Then, we’ll go to the conserved Tracy Woods and discover some common winter species using only their twigs, bark and buds (and a few other things too).

Knowing your winter plant ID gives you these practical benefits:

• Plants are usually dormant and lacking leaves in the spring or fall planting season, making ID difficult without winter botany skills.

• When you learn to ID plants in winter, you can identify plants with confusing foliage in other seasons.

• Learning winter twigs will help you tell if a plant is dead, or merely dormant, any time of year.

• Distinguishing plants in winter gives us more opportunities to appreciate and another reason to get outside and active during winter, a season very easy to spend indoors.

Last but not least, learning winter plant ID also helps us understand the diversity of life that exists in our forests, and we begin to appreciate the role of native plants in the landscape and the importance of their conservation.

Email guy@shlt.org to RSVP. This workshop is free and open to all. This workshop is geared towards adult learners but nature-enthused kids welcome as well, accompanied by a parent or guardian. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.