We live near Jamestown NY, the home of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. RTPI occasionally gives a wild flower class, which I took several years ago. It turned out that I knew almost as much as the educator about local plants, but it was fun going around the county and seeing them in different settings. And, he knew a spot where the Ladie's Slippers were quite abundant, which was a nice thing to see.
I think what I like most about knowing the plants is that it centers you in a place. My daughter is moving home with her family from several years in Kentucky, and while she was there, I made an effort to know what was growing around her. It made her place more real to me. Now, we'll have their new property, which is about 4 miles from us, to explore. It is often remarkable how much difference a few miles and a change in elevation can make.
Lynn, one year when we were going down to KY to visit, I kept a catalog of sorts of the roadside flowers. The changes from north to south were very interesting.
