I posted an article on my site that shows some of the tools, techniques I have tried along with many original papers downloadable as PDFs for those that might be interested. Some of the stains like Safranin and Astra blue I found are not easy to get or have shipped to my home residence.
I used a variety of techniques, Polarixing, DIC, Darkfield, Fluorescence and Bright field mictoscopy and several different microscopes. The plants were from my fridge or yard.
Article for those interested: https://www.canadiannaturephotographer. ... ants1.html

Spruce branch hand cut and focused stacked - Toluidine blue stain

Pine wood section, polarized light with full wave retarder, from prepared slide

Cannabis sativa male leaf section by hand using razor blade - Darkfield microscopy, Cannabis is now legal in Canada

Potato starch grains in polarized light microscopy

Wide variety of blades I am testing along with a variety of hand microtomes to cut thin sections of plants. Many woody stems I have to soften by boiling in 10% glyercol until the wood sinks - I am having fun learning more botany and various techniques. This summer I will section and stain almost every plant I can get my hands on.
[Admin edit 3/1/2020, RJL: formatting and copy caption info from email]