Projects and albums and confusion

I searched for a solution to this issue, but probably wasn't using the correct search terms.
My current setup has a Project called Plant Material.
I also have an album called 'Plant Material'. This is because many times I photograph something that puts the photo in a different project, but the image contains plant material.
This is one of my main issues with Aperture, and I suppose that Albums were created to solve the problem of one mage in many projects.
Now, though, I have decided after a few years' using Aperture (and yes it can take that long to get the feel of it) that I want all of my Plant Material images in one place.
Does it make sense to use an Album for this? If so, I suppose I would still have the Plant Material project? When I am working with the images, would I always work with the images in the album?
–Michael

RB:
I knew someone would say that. And it does seem to play to Aperture's strengths for sure. However, I have a custom field called 'Scientific', where I put the names of the plants 'Quercus virginiana'. In order to organize as you smartly suggest I would need a keyword to find all the critters.
Say I did. Then what? A smart album makes sense but is SLOW. Makes sense though.
And then back to the other question: how the **** do I combine a project with a folder, when some of the folder contents are in the project?
Oh, and what a delightful picture on your web site:-) Whoever said girl geeks aren't hot? Oh, wait, that person was shot over at BoingBoing, right?
Michael

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