I used to be uncomfortable calling myself an expert, because there's always someone who knows more than you. Then I read that an expert was anyone who knew more than 90% of the U.S. population knew about a subject. After that I felt comfortable calling myself an expert on colchicums, the Colchicum Queen. When I started my education there really hadn't been much written about them for a good 50 years. So I started comparing the ones I found growing in my yard with the ones I bought, describing the differences between them. I bought every cultivar and species I could find. I invested in the out-of-print books that had been written about them and bought every magazine that had an article about them. What helped most of all (but wasn't available when I started) was joining a Facebook group focused on these plants. Many Europeans in that group knew a lot more than me and were generous with their knowledge. Some of them had even introduced into the trade some of the cultivars I had. When I learned the Royal Horticultural Society was getting ready to publish a monograph on colchicums, I was beyond excited! It's the only book I've pre-ordered on Amazon, and I read all 535 pages as soon as it was delivered. I refer to it often, especially when I think I may have been sold an incorrectly identified colchicum. But I also found myself disagreeing with the authors' assertion that two cultivars were identical. In my garden they are not. I guess that's another way you know you're an expert: when you can intelligently disagree with other experts in the same area of expertise.