I just took a class at a local community college, and we used the Peterson Field Guide EASTERN/CENTRAL MEDICINAL PLANTS AND HERBS. We also used a wildflower guide. Our instructor was quite knowledgeable, and I recommend finding someone to help ID plants as the books can only help a little.Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) looks a lot like other, non-lethal plants. Have fun but be careful!

froggy, why not take the "glass is half full" view of this? An ecotourism approach would serve to make more people aware of the importance of ecological restoration projects. Participants would learn how restoration is done and where it is done; they would learn some interesting facts about the plants and animals involved, and they could come away with a better understanding of the importance of this work and the need for funding. As a result, the professionals would have more opportunites and therefore be better paid. Back in 1988, my husband and I went to an outing sponsored by the local Nature Conservancy chapter. At that time, I was unaware of ecological restoration. As a result of that simple half-day walk in the woods, the following has evolved: 1. I became a volunteer at the site. 2. I took several classes, including a series of restoration classes taught by Steve Packard. 3. My husband and I eventually bought property with some natural areas worthy of restoration. 4. The payoff to froggy - we have hired some professionals to assist us! 5. I have become a board member of a local environmental group. While restoration work does need to be overseen by someone who understands what they are doing, I think there are a lot of opportunities to train volunteers on specific tasks and then use them. Consider this: start the day with breakfast and a lecture on buckthorn - why it is a problem, what it looks like, how to control it. Then out to a wooded area for a few hours of buckthorn removal. After a lunch break, the group moves on to another wooded area that has been cleared of buckthorn, and they see the end results of their morning's work. That evening, a lecture by a rep of a non-profit group that supports such restoration efforts. This would be along the lines of educating the participants as to the group's mission, not a blatant pitch for dollars, but of course the appropriate info would be in their packets. Substitute your local ecosystem and restoration problem accordingly. Some of those people will leave and become supporters of the cause, and eventually more professionals will be hired. Some of the people will go home and find similar projects in their own back yard, and still increase the opportunities for professionals. The more the word is spread, the better. Yes, there is a seasonality factor. But remember, tulip time in Holland is big, as is cherry blossom time in Washington. No one makes those trips in August. Seasonality does not mean it can't work; it just has to be scheduled. V.

What else... Rainfall. How much over the whole of the year, and when in the year. How much mist? How high are you above sea level? Does your property face the sun (South, for you) or are you shaded by hills, buildings, whatever, and don't see the sun until later in the day? Does the frost take it's time about melting, even when it's sunny? When is your first/last frost of significance (the one that terminates the tomatoes or mushies the young bean plants)? Is your soil acid, or alkaline or neutral? 6,5,4 is tending acid. 8,9 is tending alkaline. 6.5-7.5 is around the neutral range. You can buy a home test kit from your garden centre or farmers' supply depot. With maples and cherries, I'd guess at moderately acid - especially if you have pines and native rhododendrons in your woods/bush. How deep is the topsoil, and does it dry out over the summer? Do you have boggy patches in the woods, or is it mostly well-drained after the heavy rains? How dense are the roots in the area where you might want to have planting pockets for treasures? And what sort of shade??? Do the trees cast shadows sprinkled with patches of light on a sunny day? (Dappled light.) Or does it look as gloomy as a winter day when you go in on a summer's day? (Dense shade) Dry shade is the sort of thing you get on the north side of the house under the eaves. Rarely gets natural moisture. A useful zone for drying out bulbs over summer, but can be a gardening challenge. Hope that's helped a bit.

My ambitions have scaled back considerably - I now clear much smaller areas at a time - no more than I can easily resow with native grasses and flowers. I allow myself a blast of herbicide to do away with the worst of the nettle and bramble and hand weed until the grass and flowers are growing well enough...and I am still propagating as many plants as I can after the initial shock of proudly clearing the first huge bramble patch (a million tiny brambles appeared almost overnight)...and I have decided to get along rather than fighting all the time. I have a little wheeze at present, using the brambles as 'nurse' plants. They have shallow and not terribly competitive root systems while also making good natural tree guards so I cut back the longest canes, thin some out at the base and plant maiden whips in amongst the blackberries. The little saplings benefit from the support (and although deer pressure is very slight, the bramble also helps with protection against the infrequent water deer incursions)...and bulbs are turning out to be the restorer's friends - over 10,000 bulbs in 3 years are beginning to make little pools of light and colour... I let the celandines have their head, as well as wood anemones. It still feels terribly experimental and contingent...but nonetheless, I have planted the first trees I raised from seed this autumn - little understorey rowans (sorbus).