Wildflowers of Michigan Field Guide (Wildflowers of . . . Field Guides)

I love this book! Admittedly, I'm an amateur with identifying wildflowers -- I know my basic dandelions, daisies, and lady slippers, but not much more. This book groups flowers into basic colors, with a little color code at the top of each page, from blue, green, yellow, white, red, purple, etc. For example, to identify your basic white flower -- turn to the pages marked with the color white at the top right hand corner. The flowers are then in order -- smallest to largest of the white flowers. Each left side of the page has a full-page photo of the flower. Each right page has a description of the flower, including family, height, flower & leaf, when it blooms, cycle/orgin, habitat, range, and "Stan's Notes" which add stories or tidbits, such as if a plant is popular for certain butterflies, or legends as to how the flower got its name. At the bottom of each page is a little box, with Flower Type (regular, tube, bell, etc), Cluster Type (round, flat, etc), Leaf Type (simple, simple lobed, compound, etc), Leaf Attachment (Alternate, Basal, Whorl, etc), Fruit (Pod, Berry, etc). Admittedly, this is not as thorough perhaps as Peterson's Field Guide to Wildflowers or Newcomb's Flower Guide -- but those don't have actual photographs, which Stan Tekiela's book does. I need actual photos, at this stage in my learning. I'm already happily identifying far more flowers, and even alternate names for them, than I'd ever known before. It's fun to be able to tell people, "Oh yes, that is a Wood Lily," instead of, "Oh yes, that is your basic orange flower." Yes, I love this little book -- small enough to tuck into a pocket as I head out for a walk in the woods.

A friend of ours had this book and my wife found it very useful. We live in a rural setting and have the joy of seeing many different wildflowers during the year and this book is very helpful in identifying them. Is well written and very easy to use.

This book has some great pictures, good information and interesting notes about Michigan's wildflowers. The only gripe I have about it, though, is that there are several wildflowers I've found in the field that are not in this book. That can be frustrating, especially when teaching a nature study course. Overall, however, I love this series!

I find the books by Stan Tekiela to be useful and informative. I live in Michigan, and have used his book to identify an number of native and non-native wildflowers with the book. The 'Stan's notes' section for each plant has interesting information. It would be interesting to know what 'misinformation' is in the book (according to the review by 'a customer' - I am not sure what they are referring to. Even if the photos are not 'from Michigan', they are of good quality and can be used for identification of the flower. The small icons denoting different flower characteristics are also useful for beginning or confirming identification, as well as for distinguishing from similar species. Perhaps there are 'more useful' books on Michigan wildflowers, but of the half dozen or so I have used, this one ranks right up there with the best of them. If you work with Scouts or other youth groups and nature, this is a good reference book to take on a hike and add some interest to the actual identifications.

I spent a few weeks in Michigan this summer and found this book to be a helpful guide to the state's wildflowers. I could walk through a field and identify a dozen different varieties in just a few minutes, thanks to this book.