DENVER — Colorado summers are simply the best – partly because of the "Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music" wildflowers that blanket mountain valleys, decorate bubbling streams, and reach the highest peaks. Jennifer Ackerfield with the Denver Botanic Gardens has some suggestions – and I do, too – as to where to spot the best flowers. First though, let's figure out how to name them.
There are plenty of Colorado wildflower books out there, but a book is not always a good hiking companion. I have a little laminated thing that I carry around, but honestly, Ackerfield has a better suggestion. She really digs the iNaturalist app for your phone.
Download the app, take pictures, and you get all sorts of cool info about the plant. In addition, the app records date and coordinates. This is important, because scientists like Ackerfield can use citizen data to help them in their research.
The data has a chance to be verified – Ackerfield herself has verified tens of thousands of plants. "It helps you identify what you’re seeing, and you’re also contributing to science. All of your observations are pushed out there to the scientific community through these portals for biodiversity that we have," Ackerfield said.
"This brings the power of millions of people [who] are now out there observing biodiversity. "In the end it helps us find these areas that we should conserve for future use," she said. It's a "win-win-win" Ackerfield said, admitting she's a little addicted to it.
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