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When seasons change and plants lose their leaves, it may seem like a dull and sleepy time of year— but there is much to observe and get excited about the outdoors! In fact, there are some plant traits that you can only clearly observe in winter. Wintertime is a great time to build your plant identification skills and hone your observational abilities.

In this session, we will begin with an indoor lecture where you will learn the basics of winter plant identification, including key traits and terms. The second part of the class will be an outdoor walk around the garden, where we will stop and observe the interesting features of various native shrubs and trees.

Julia Alards-Tomalin is an instructor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Burnaby, Canada. She studied Forestry and Ecological Restoration at BCIT and completed a Master of Education at Simon Fraser University. Her background is diverse, including horticulture, arboriculture, invasive species management and ecological restoration, but is united by a common theme of plants.

Starting in 2019, Julia began to work with her students to create an Open Education textbook focusing on the winter identification of plants entitled Buds, Branches and Bark: A Guide to Winter ID in the Pacific Northwest. Buds, Branches and Bark is free to download, and the 2nd edition is currently available on the BCIT website. In 2022, Julia was awarded the Teaching Excellence in Open Education Employee Excellence Award at BCIT for her involvement in this Open Education Resource. In 2023, the 2nd edition of Buds, Branches and Bark was awarded the Open Education Global Award for Excellence in the Open Pedagogy category and the BC Campus Award for Excellence in Open Education.