No wonder bird watching was suddenly the fastest growing hobby in North America. Everyone loved it. Alas, nothing's static. You see, the problem with birds is they get up at some unworldly hour before dawn, prance around until it's light, and then hide in the shrubbery for the rest of the day. This poses a challenge to the average birder, not unlike that of the amateur fisherman.
Plants can dazzle too.
No, birding was too demanding. There are enormous advantages to spending a holiday ticking off a list of flora over, say, a similar list of fauna . First, plants don't move, so they can be observed at whatever damn time it suits you, not them. Second, there are way more plants on the planet than birds, so you can claim to see 500 erica species, for example, without batting an eyelid, when you'd be lucky to spot 50 birds or 5 mammals. Life just got a whole lot easier.