Here’s a list of resources and books I have found helpful regarding native plants, the Rocky Mountain region, using natives for home landscapes, and the use of native plants as food and medicine. The first three are my favorite resources for hard to find information on growing and caring for native plants. After that, they are in no particular order……

The Garden of Joy: A Primer for the Prairie Provinces and Rocky Mountain Empire.  By James D. Searles. 1992.

Jewels of the Plains by Claude Barr. 1983.

Dryland Gardening: Plants that Survive and Thrive in Tough Conditions by Jennifer Bennett. 2005.

Plants of the Rocky Mountains by L. Kershaw, A. MacKinnon and J. Pojar. 1998.

Native Plants for High Elevation Western Gardens by Janice Busco and Nancy R. Morin. 2003.

Wildflowers of Wyoming Diantha States and Jack States. 2004.

Plants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition H. Wayne Phillips. 2003.

Vascular Plants of Wyoming Robert Dorn. 2001.

North American Range Plants by J. Stubbendieck, S. L. Hatch, and K.J. Hirsch. 1986.

Weeds of the West 1992  The Western Society of Weed Science Newark, CA

Meet the Natives: An Easy Way to Recognize Rocky Mountain Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs by M. Walter Pesman. 1952.

Nebraska Wild Flowers by Robert C. Lommasson. 1973.

Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary by Ronald J. Taylor. 1992.

Rocky Mountain Nature Guide by Andy Bezener and Linda Kershaw. 1999.

The Xeriscape Flower Gardener by Jim Knopf. 1991.

Cold Climate Gardening by Rebecca Atwater Briccetti. 2000.

Notes of a High Country Gardener by Betty Folchi. 1995.

Handbook of Rocky Mountain Plants by Ruth Ashton Nelson. 1969.

Meet the Natives by M. Walter Pesman. 1942.

Flowers of the Southwest Deserts by Natt N. Dodge. 1985.

The New Wild Flowers and How to Grow Them by Edwin F. Steffek. 1983.

Rocky Mountain Gardener’s Guide by John Cretti. 1998.

Planting the Future edited by Rosemary Gladstar and Pamela Hirsch. 2000.

The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Penstemons by David Way and Peter James. 1998.

Collecting and Processing Seeds of Wildland Plants by James A. Young and Cheryl G. Young. 1986

Key to the Major Grasses of the Big Horn Mountains by Morton May. 1960.

Xeriscape Colorado by Connie Lockhart Ellefson and David Winger. 2004.

Xeriscaping: Planning and Planting Low Water Gardens by Mark Rumary. 2001.

Dry Climate Gardening – an Ortho Book. 2004.

Natural Gardening by Jim Knopf, Sally Wasowski, John Kadel Boring, Glenn Keator, Jane Scott, and Erica Glasener. 1995.

Best Perennials for the Rocky Mountains and High Plains by Celia Tannehill and James E. Klett. 2002.

Adams, James, et al. Healing with Medicinal Plants of the West – Cultural and Scientific Basis for Their Use Fourth Edition. Abedus Press, 1 July 2020.

“BRIT – Native American Ethnobotany Database.” Brit.org, 2019, naeb.brit.org/. priority_high

Kershaw, Linda. Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rockies. Vancouver, British Columbia, Partners Publishing, 2017.

Minnis, Paul E. Famine Foods : Plants We Eat to Survive. Tucson, The University Of Arizona Press, 2021.

Pasquale, Andrew. “Plants.” Native Memory Project, 12 Dec. 2024, nativememoryproject.org/plants/. Accessed 5 May 2024.

Purdue University. “Purdue University Famine Foods.” Famine Foods, 2024, http://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/famine-foods/. Accessed 5 May 2024.

United States Department of Agriculture. “USDA Plants Database.” Plants.usda.gov, 2023, plants.usda.gov/home.

Wiles, Briana. Mountain States Medicinal Plants : Identify, Harvest, and Use 100 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness. North Adams, Timber Press, Incorporated, 2017.

Willard, Terry, et al. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rocky Mountains and Neighbouring Territories. Calgary, Alta., Wild Rose College Of Natural Healing, 1992.

Sunset Western Garden Book. 2001.

The Complete Encyclopedia of Garden Flowers. 2003.