Jim Koweek, local native vegetation expert, and Dale Armstrong, photographer, have written an entertaining and instructive user-friendly plant identification book, “Sonoran Desert Plant ID for Everyone: A nontechnical field guide.”

Four years in the making and 30,000 photographs later, the book is finally published. Koweek wrote the text, entertaining, educational descriptions and practical information along with a good dose of humor and wisdom. Armstrong photographed the 300-plus Sonoran Desert plants included in the guide.

“This book is meant to be the book that I wish I would have had when I was learning all this stuff, and I don’t do serious too well,” Koweek writes. “This book is meant to be enjoyed, not endured. Learning about plants should be fun.”

The author’s love and respect for our local native plants and the environment is always present in Koweek’s writings. In his introduction to his latest book, he writes, “The Sonoran Desert is hot, thorny, and snaky—but it is so much more. It is the most simple but complex habitat you will ever experience.” 

Also present in all of Koweek’s articles and books is his tongue in cheek style and witty asides. In his introduction, for instance he states, “I promise, no boring ultra-technical stuff… All measurements in this book are in feet and inches. This is America. That’s how we roll.” 

This 12-page introduction is a crash course in the overlapping environments in the Southwest. Sonoran and grassland identification overlaps in many areas. “We like boundaries and hard definitions, but plants are rule breakers,” he writes. “They are ornery and don’t read the rules.”

The author encourages landscaping with native plants. “Most desert flowering plants attract desert life like hummingbirds, butterflies, and other pollinators,” writes Koweek. “Everybody likes them, right? For the same amount of time, money, and effort, you get twice the return. Plant a boring-ass rose or a Boxwood and you will end up with a plant that looks decent in the spring, attracts nothing but boring-ass people, and looks like a struggling plant the rest of the year.” “Sonoran Desert Plant ID” is focused on helping the reader to identify the right natives for their specific landscaping and revegetation projects. 

Koweek credits many people as resources for his knowledge and understanding of plants and the environment. “Chances are if I worked with someone one day, I probably learned something from them,” he writes. Koweek is entirely field trained, having never taken a formal botany class. He started out in the landscape business after graduating from the University of Arizona in 1978, and honed his identification skills while conducting rangeland monitoring for the forest service and BLM.

In the mid-’90s, Koweek opened Diamond JK nursery in Sonoita, specializing in native and hard to get plants. After selling the business, he expanded his native seeding operation, Arizona Revegetation, and continued to perform as a musician.

“I was the only person I knew that played music to support his day job,” he said in an interview in 2016.

Koweek hopes that knowledge of native plants will give us the ability to restore and protect our environment with the reward of new awareness about the role nature plays in our daily lives. 

Koweek and Armstrong’s previous book, “Grassland Plant ID for Everyone,” published in 2016, is a local classic, and may be purchased at many area stores, wineries and online. Now, area residents and local plant lovers can add another classic to their bookshelves, also available locally or through Amazon. Jim Koweek can be reached at jim@azreveg.com.