Family matters
When it comes to gardening, the sheer number of plants to learn about can be overwhelming, and trying to remember names, let alone characteristics and care requirements of different ones can seem impossible. While all those Latin species and varieties can sometimes feel like an added complication, believe it or not plant taxonomy actually exists to help us understand the quarter-of-a-million species in the plant kingdom.
Plant families represent genetic relationships between groups of plants. Species are grouped by similarities in DNA, and so plants within one family will often share characteristics such as flower or leaf shape, growth habit or needs. Learning about the different plants within families can be a bit of a lightbulb moment – just try joining the dots
