Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Betty Vos Hemstad.
Wildflowers of the Boundary Waters: Hiking Through the Seasons.
St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2009.
paper, 272 pp., ISBN 978–0–8535–1647–1, $22.95.

This handy guide, created by nature photographer Betty Vos Hemstad, is filled with spectacular photographs and an informative narrative that covers the botany, habitat, usage, and legends connected with 120 wildflowers of the region. Organized according to seasonal bloom, the pages are colorfully keyed to the hue of the individual flower portrayed, for ease in identification. The author’s literary style and the beauty of this work make for pleasurable reading for both armchair travelers and touring nature lovers.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.