Welcome

Winner of the Colorado Book Award in 2005 for non-fiction, Wild at Heart is one of the most exciting Colorado outdoors books available. Janis has spent over 50 years exploring the central and southern Rocky Mountains and now shares her stories in this eminently useful and gorgeously illustrated guide to the wildflowers, mammals, birds and ecology of Colorado – a library of fascinating information in a compact book that easily fits into daypacks, backpacks or your backseat. Truly a comprehensive natural history guide, Wild at Heart encompasses habitats found in Colorado’s high country’s aspen, mountain shrub, mixed conifer, subalpine and alpine habitats. Ultimately, a great resource to spend time exploring yourself!

Wild at Heart is being revised to cover even more of Colorado High Country and will continue to appeal to nature lovers around the Southern Rockies. This new version will be available summer 2025. There will be many new photos, species, scientific updates and expanded descriptions for over 450 wildflowers, 116 birds and 51 mammals (including moose and wolves), plus new intriguing tidbits, statistics, and information on the natural history, ecology, environmental status, herbal properties, and mountain life zones of these plants and animals. Wolf and moose descriptions will be available on the website as they are completed.

Janis also has a fold up, laminated, quick reference guide by color, Wildflowers of the Southern Rocky Mountains, covering northern New Mexico, Colorado, and southern Wyoming. This waterproof guide is published by Quick Reference Publishing (quickreferencepublishing.com) and contains 101 common and rare native species with pertinent details for ID and vivid photographs. Check on Amazon or Barnes and Noble’s websites or check the publisher’s website for other locations in your area. This light-weight guide is a companion to Wildflowers of the Northern Rocky Mountains by William R. Gray and together will give the reader ID for nearly 200 species to easily carry in their pack!

Check back here for more information regarding the upcoming revision of Wild at Heart. Please contact the author (Janis.huggins@comcast.net.) with any questions, and to send photos of plant, mammal or bird species that you need help with.