Betty Hemstad's book, "Wildflowers of the Boundary Waters," has just been published.
A Boundary Waters wildflower book to end all wildflower books has just been published.
“Wildflowers of the Boundary Waters: Hiking Through the Seasons” by Betty Vos Hemstad is just what every wildflower lover has been looking for. It’s an extraordinary collection of wildflower photos organized in the best way possible to find those elusive wildflowers while hiking in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness or the Northwoods.
Not only are there color photos of the flowers themselves, but each stage of the plant is also shown, including the emerging plant, the bud and seed pods. Hemstad didn’t stop there either. She also has included a photograph of where you might find the flower in the actual environment when you’re hiking in the woods.
Hemstad, who has a cabin on the Gunflint Trail, said she has always been frustrated by wildflower books because they only show the flower, not the rest of its life cycle. So if you happen to miss the bloom, you don’t know where to look the next year. So she began photographing all the life stages of the plant — from bud to full flower to seed pod.
It’s an extraordinary experience to leaf through this book. Hemstad is a gifted photographer and her photos are beautiful.
And she has organized the wildflowers by season as well as color and includes wonderful snippets of information about each.
So, if you’re walking in the woods with this book and it’s early spring and you see a yellow bloom, you can quickly check to see what it is.
And, better yet for those who want to increase their knowledge about wildflowers, a fall stroll through the woods will lead you to all kinds of information about seed pods and their unique beauty.
Hemstad has also included the popular name and Latin name for each of the 120 wildflowers documented in the book as well as a Wildflower Challenge. In the challenge, she has included photographs of 20 other wildflowers found in the Boundary Waters and invites people to take the following series of photos: “As seen while hiking,” bud, plant, full flower and seed.
“May your wildflower journey be as rewarding and enjoyable as mine has been,” she writes.
The book was published by the Minnesota Historical Society and can be found in local bookstores this spring as well as in the Twin Cities.
Keep posted for book signings.
