Become an iNaturalist
If you’re headed up to Mt. Ashland this summer and want to learn more about all of the wildflowers blooming around you, we can help.
One of the best field guides is Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest by Mark Turner and Phyllis Gustafson. You can pick it up at your favorite local bookstore for under $30. There is also the Native Plant Society of Oregon’s $1 brochure, “Wildflowers of Mount Ashland and the Siskiyou Crest.” It’s available at the Northwest Nature Shop in Ashland and packed full of great information and color photos.
We also just discovered a great little smartphone app called iNaturalist. The app is free, and available for both iPhone and Android devices, in addition to desktops and laptops.
Once you load it onto your device, look under More > Guides. If you’ve allowed the app to use location services and you are near Mt. Ashland, you should be able to easily find “Mt. Ashland Plant Species” under “Guides.”
Once in the Mt. Ashland Guide, you will see right away that our mountain is blessed with a huge assortment of plant species, including some of our favorites: scarlet gilia and spreading phlox. Hopefully this guide will help you identify at least a few of them on your next visit.
Happy exploring!