Introduction

Wildflowers can easily be overlooked, taken for granted as always being there for us. This dismissiveness is reflected in the fact that many wildflowers include ‘weed’ in their common name. Wildflowers, in my view, are precious gifts from Earth sharing their abundant aesthetic, food foraging and healing qualities with us who live among them. Each species reveals a fascinating and dramatic world of survival within its own niche while remaining connected to the whole with the ecosystem.

My hope for this guide is to share the botany of wildflowers I’ve come to know near Little Bass Lake in Crow Wing County — identifying flowers familiar to anyone making forays into the wider region of Minnesota (and beyond). These are their stories to tell as I have learned them from the perspective of appreciation as well as from botanical science. My wish is to further your understanding of each wildflower’s unique story, and perhaps inspire you to add some favorites into your own life-narrative.

So, let’s start observing and discovering the plethora of wildflowers growing abundantly right in our midst!