In Minnesota, wildflowers are almost everywhere you look. They’re in prairies, forests, bogs, ditches and even abandoned mine pits. Author Phyllis Root and photographer Kelly Povo hope their new book Chasing Wildflowers can be a guide for those curious about wildflowers.
Root told the KAXE Morning Show about their goal in writing the book. “We want people to know about them and then care about them and then work to protect them. It's all connected.”
For both Root and Povo, a highlight of the project was the constant surprises on their trips—unexpected sights that popped up out of nowhere. One time they went on a trip to find violets, and while they didn’t end up finding a single violet, they came across some trilliums instead.
“One thing we've learned is that no matter how many times we've gone to a place, we think we've seen everything there is to see. But we go back because we love the place and something new will surprise us that we never expected to see. And that's fun too,” Root said.
They suggest packing water and maybe a snack before heading out to search for wildflowers. “We always get carried away and pretty soon it's been two or three hours since we left the car,” Povo said.
Readers of Chasing Wildflowers will learn about how plants can change over short distances. Even from one side of a hill to another, you can have a completely different set of wildflowers. It also helps that Minnesota is home to many different biomes across the state.
Root and Povo credit their knowledge about plants before beginning this project with the aid of guidebooks. Author Welby Smith’s work and Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide were major help.
Another section of the book covers overburden areas, which is a term used to describe the sediment or rock covering a resource, especially on Minnesota's Iron Range. Plants growing in rock outcroppings seemed almost like being on the moon or Mars.
“So different from anywhere we'd ever been anywhere, red rock, red earth, not a whole lot of ground cover. Lady slippers, orchids, pine trees and just trying to find out more about it was a challenge,” said Root.
At the end of their book, Root and Povo offer multiple suggestions for where Minnesota wildflower enthusiasts can go next — whether you’re looking for a simple next step, ready to dig a little deeper or eager to fully immerse yourself.
The book Chasing Wildflowers: An Adventurous Guide to Finding Minnesota’s Native Flowers in their Unique Habitats was published by University of Minnesota Press and is available on their website.
Listen to the conversation on the KAXE Morning Show with John Latimer above.
