By Jim McCausland, Sunset senior garden writer
Photographs by Mark Turner, Turner Photographics

Most of us are pretty good at separating our camellias from our lobelias, but sometimes wildflowers don’t come as easily. When I’m struggling to put a name on a lovely wilderness blossom, I go to a couple of web sites for help.

One is Mark Turner’s Pacific Northwest Wildflowers, which is easily searchable by common or botanical name, color, flower type, and more. When you click to a flower's page, you get range maps and cross links to other sites that also have information about the plant in question. This is incredibly user friendly, and has some of the finest photography you’ll find on the web—and pictures are large enough to tell you something. Turner is the horticultural photographer whose work fills Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, coauthored with Phyllis Gustafson and published by Timber Press.

The University of Washington’s Burke Museum also hosts an excellent wildflower site. Called Washington Flora Checklist, it is also searchable in multiple ways and includes range maps, external links, and photography.

In the end, you'll probably bookmark and use both of them often. Sites like these make the internet a blessing.