Making your own Botany Journal is a great way to organize your learning. Use a pretty notebook, a plain notebook, or decorate your own!
My in-person Botany students make their own every year by taking a plain, brown paper kraft notebook and cutting out their favorite pictures from flower catalogs. Then they Modge-Podge them on the cover to create a beautiful, waterproof cover that is as individual as the person and the flowers on the cover.
Free Printable Botany Journal Pages
If you’re the more organized type, print my free Botany Journal pages to keep your notes in a 3-ring binder, then you can easily print and add in more pages as you need more space. I even have a pretty cover page for you to print and color if you wish.
What information should you include in your Botany Journal?
The list can vary based on your interests and desires so take the ideas that you like from the list below and leave off the rest. You don’t need to include all this information. Just include what you know at the time you begin to study or find a plant. You can always come back and add more information later as you learn it.
Your goal is not to find all of this information about every plant, but to record what you do know about it so that you have reference to come back to later.
Information to Record in Your Botany Journal:
- Scientific Name
- Common Name
- Plant Family
- Location & Date Found
- Date Planted/Harvested
- Characteristics Observed
- Edible? Poisonous?
- Native/Naturalized/Invasive?
- Growing Conditions
- Characteristics Observed
- Possible look-alikes
- Medicinal Uses?
- Native/Naturalized/Invasive
- A Sketch, drawing, or photograph
Don’t feel compelled to record all this information. If you are just a home gardener and love plants purely for their beauty and don’t plan to eat any of them, then you don’t need to record whether something is edible or not. However, Foxglove, which is a beautiful flower found in many old-fashioned gardens, is poisonous to people and animals. So noting any poisonous plants might be prudent.
Only include the information you need and don’t worry about the rest. You will probably find that what you record may change over time as you learn more and gain skills, but that’s okay. Let your Botany Journal grow with you.
Start a Botany Journal with your Kids!
Help your kids start their own Botany Journals. Beginning a Botany Journal in Spring or Summer is a great idea as you can readily collect samples. But, when it’s cold, snowy, and quiet and you need an activity to remind you of Spring, start your Botany Journal out with some Botany Basics.
Free Botany Basics Series
Follow my free Botany Basics Series on Facebook and Instagram. Begin with Tip #1 and work your way through all of them. I share two new tips per week. By the time you are done, you will have learned all the basic material that I teach to my in-person Botany students. It’s a great foundation for new gardeners, homeschoolers, or those wanting to become better at plant identification.
Start your herbal studies by studying one new herb per month…
Check out our self-guided plan for challenging yourself to study one new herb per month. Grab our free download and learn how to study herbs as they are in season.
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