Four essentials for every plant walk

So, you're ready to get out on the trail or just meander through your neighborhood to make some new plant friends? What are the four things you should bring along with you to help make plant identification and documentation easy and fun? Below, I have listed the four things I simply can't do without when I go out on a plant walk, along with some detailed info and a few links to some of my favorites! What do you like to bring along when you go on a plant walk? Did I miss anything with my four essentials for every plant walk? Leave comments below and let me know your thoughts.

PLANT WALK ESSENTIALS

1. A Sketch Book & Pencil (and/or pens, watercolors, markers, etc.)

I love having a small, blank page sketchbook to jot down plant sketches, observations, ideas, inspirations, and even a little botanical art if I am feeling called. I have a collection of small handmade or local artist created notebooks that I use; to help bring a little intentional inspiration to my walks. Supporting fellow artists and creatives for my plant notebooks feels like building a mini-ecosystem in itself and I love taking their creations out with me on my own creative endeavors. I prefer to use pencil (at least at first) in my notebooks so I can erase and adjust as needed. However, I also have some notebooks that are pen and ink sketches, watercolor paintings, or color coded marker notes. The point is, choose the medium that works best for you and your notebook and have some fun! Don't hold to perfection, change your medium in the middle of a notebook, add some scribbles, cross stuff out, misspell words and look them up later...make it completely unique and completely your own! One of my favorite local artists who makes blank notebooks is RealFunWow

"Joy is Now" Notebook by RealFunWow (Daren has a host of amazing notebooks, this one is just one of my favorite designs) You can find all of his notebooks HERE.

2. Camera

I always like to also bring along a camera of some kind to quickly document my observations and to look up unknown plants when I get home. If you're wanting to use pictures to document for identification purposes, I recommend getting pictures of leaves & leaf arrangement, stems/bark, flowers & fruits (if there are any), overall size and shape of the plant, and a few pics of the surrounding environment. You can bring along a separate camera or just use the camera on your phone. Many newer phones even have plant identification technology built directly into their photo apps; HOWEVER, I would always verify with traditional field guides or local plant experts as well, because they are prone to errors and misidentification. I have always been a lover of photography, so half my plant walk pictures are for identification and the other half are usually artistic captures playing with light, color, shadow, and texture. But remember, your camera is just one single tool for connecting with these plants...don't forget to use the most important tools you have at your disposal...your senses!

3. Loupes or Magnifiers

Many plants have small details in their flowers and/or leaves that might be hard to see with the naked eye. So, having handheld magnification for getting up close and personal can be super helpful and fun! I personally use small jewelry loupes (like the ones linked below); but any small handheld magnification tool will work. I have even used those tiny plastic magnifying glasses that come in children's science project kits. But, I do recommend magnification because there is a whole other world to behold when you can get in close and tiny and the shift in perspective is mesmerizing.

There are many brands and styles of jewelry loupes you can use; I have had great luck with these Pineapple Loupes with a hard cover. They offer 30x and 60x magnification, which is plenty for most up close plant exploration and are relatively inexpensive. You can find them HERE.

4. Field Guide

A good field guide is absolutely priceless when it comes to first learning to identify plants in the wild. Many smart phones now have plant ID technology and there are countless plant ID apps you can download; however, I have noticed regular errors in most of them, and they generally only work consistently for easy to identify plants with very distinct features. I mostly use them in a pinch to remind me of a plant name I am forgetting or to verify a plant I am already mostly sure of. For general plant identification or for new unknown plants, I tend to use printed or online field guides that have been vetted and have more detailed information. Here are a couple recommendations for various apps, online, and printed guides that I use and enjoy: PHONE APPS Seek by iNaturalist: This is a great overall app that you can also set to a geographical zone, so you won't necessarily be inundated with plants from other parts of the world. It is also available to a degree without cell service, so that is really helpful on back country trails (although it works much slower and generally won't "log" your findings without service) LINK TO APPLE APP STORE LINK TO GOOGLE PLAY STORE PlantNet: I enjoy this one because you can upload multiple pictures of various elements of the plant (leaves, flowers, bark, etc) and get a percentage match of plants that match those elements. This one is great for narrowing down identities and getting multiple ID's to work with. That way, even if it gets it wrong, you have other options to look into. LINK TO APPLE APP STORE

LINK TO GOOGLE PLAY STORE

ONLINE DATABASES Jepson eFlora

Calscape Lanny Kaufer Resource Page

PRINTED FIELD GUIDES/PLANT BOOKS

California Plants: A Guide to Our Iconic Flora by Matt Ritter

Introduction to the Plant Life of Southern California (Coast to Foothills) by Philip W. Rundel and Robert Gustafson

Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains by Milt McAuley

Medicinal Herbs of California by Lanny Kaufer Foraging California by Christopher Nyerges

Pacific Tree Finder: Identifying Trees of the Pacific Coast by Tom Watts

California Plant Families by Glenn Keator

So, gather your things together and get out there are start getting to know your botanical community members. Learn their names, smell their fragrance, delight in their shapes and colors and textures, and most of all...HAVE FUN!

If you're looking to join in community plant walks, you can check out my schedule of monthly offerings HERE or you can grab a couple friends and schedule a private plant walk with me as your guide. Private plant walk inquiries can be made by emailing Lauren@thimbleandseed.com

Till next time friends...happy exploring!