The Secret to Learning Plants Easily: Plant Families!
Challenge Botany Course
Learn the sixteen most common plant families.
I remember sitting on the couch over 15 years ago as I was beginning to study herbs and thinking, “How am I ever going to learn all of these plants?” I thought of my mom and grandmother and all the plants that they knew and had taught me to love. I remember thinking that I guess I’d just have to learn one plant at a time and over the years I’d accumulate a bank of knowledge. And that’s what I did for the next five years. I studied one plant at a time.
Then we bought our first house and for the first time in my adult life, I had a tiny flower bed to call my own. I dove head first into gardening and every flower became my friend. I studied one flower at a time as I tried to grow new things and make my flower beds beautiful.
If you had asked me about plant families at that time, I would have scoffed at the idea of learning something so archaic. I didn’t have time for that. I had a baby to care for, kids to feed and homeschool. I viewed plant families as something that was unnecessary and that I didn’t have time for. What I didn’t realize was that what is quietly present under all that seemingly complicated taxonomy is the secret to learning plants easily.
When you understand the botanical relationships between plants and know which plants are related to one another you can make educated decisions on companion planting, water, light, and soil requirements, propagation methods, planting and harvest times, pests, diseases, and their remedies, and soil health.
You can do all this without cracking open one botany book. All you need is your own experience and observational skills. All that is required of you: Learn one plant well, find out what family it is in, and apply that knowledge to nearly all the other plants in that same plant family.
If you know one plant in a family, in most cases, you can apply what you know to dozens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of other plants.
Know one plant in a family, and you know them all!
Register for the Challenge Course to learn how easy it is to learn plant families. In just over an hour, you can be outside putting what you learn to good use.
Don’t waste years like I did studying one plant at a time. When you learn plants in family groups you’ll be able to walk outside and know immediately what plant you’re looking at because you recognize what family it belongs to.
Get the Botany education you wish you’d had before now. Learn plants the easy way!
- Register for the Basic Class.
- Watch the introductory and the first 4 plant family videos.
- Go outside and see how plant families you can find!
- Move on to Part 2 of the course to learn how to use your plant family knowledge.
- Keep going to learn how to recognize 16 of the most common plant families.
It’s that easy!
What’s Included in the
Challenge Botany Course?
Plant
Recognition
Master the 16 plant families that will enable you to know which family a plant is in just by looking at it!
Course
Topics
- How to Keep a Botany Journal
- Parts of a Plant
- Types of Plants
- Plant Recognition Clues
- Poisonous Plants
- How to Identify Unknown Plants
- Teaching Kids
- Putting Plants to Use
Teaching Kids
3 simple steps to teach plant recognition to your kids.
Flash
Cards!
Printable plant family flash cards to help you remember what to look for in the garden or in the field.
Course
Workbook!
Everything you need to know. No complicated botany books or field guides. Part 1 of the workbook includes plant recognition and Part 2 everyday plant uses. Easy to follow charts and diagrams to help you make sense of the plants you see and know what you can do with them.
Botany Journal
Printable journal pages so you can have a record of your learning.
Challenge Course Price:
$175
Lifetime access to all course content with purchase!
Bonus: Flower Family Photo Gallery!
With the Challenge Course you get access to our Flower Family Photo Gallery as a free Bonus! Photos for each of the 16 plant families will train your eye so that you can see all the plant family characteristics within each group.
Learn plants the easy way! The Secret? Plant Families!
Get lifelong plant skills that you can put to everyday use!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are your courses live or self-paced?
All the courses are all self-paced. You can complete the Basic Course in about 1 hour.
What if I register for the Basic Course and then want to upgrade to one of the others?
No problem! Existing students are offered a coupon code upon course completion to allow them to upgrade at a reduced cost.
Do I need to take the Basic Course before the others?
No. Each course is self contained. The Advanced and Challenge Courses contain the same information as the Basic Course plus more!
What ages can be taught using this method?
This teaching method can be used for any age – adults as well as children as young as four-years-old.
How do I access my Course Library?
Click on the Login button in the top right corner. Once signed in, your Course Library should appear at the bottom. of the screen.
Will I need to purchase additional books and materials?
No. You have all you need to be successful within the course. No other purchases are necessary.
Meet Your Instructor
Rachel Parks is a certified elementary school teacher and homeschooling mom. She has taught Botany and plant identification in the NYC area since 2018. She combines her passion for plants and her teaching skill to offer courses that make plant identification simple enough for a four-year-old to learn, but practical enough to put to everyday use. Fill in the gaps in your learning with one of her courses and you’ll soon see a difference in your home garden, herbal medicine cabinet, and on your kitchen table as you feed your family and teach your kids what you wish someone had taught you before now.