Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana University Press has published a number of nature-themed field guides and books, in recent years including guides such as Butterflies of Indiana, Mammals of Indiana, Fishes of Indiana, 101 Trees of Indiana, and Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests. The latest in this series is Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park.

When Nathanael Pilla asked me to work with him on a wildflower guide for the Indiana Dunes National Park, which had very recently seen a status change from a National Lakeshore to a National Park, it had not been long since I had agreed to work with Michael Homoya on another book project, Wildflowers of the Midwest. I might have initially told Nathanael that I didn't have time to help with this project, but he assured me that I could work on the project with Mike and when that was finished, pick up from wherever he was in the process of writing Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park and help from there. Living less than an hour from the Indiana Dunes and knowing that there wasn't a good field guide to that part of Indiana, I agreed to work with Nathanael on this project.  Less than three years later, Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park is available from IU Press (https://iupress.org/9780253060419/wildflowers-of-the-indiana-dunes-national-park/) as well as at various other book vendors.

We hope you enjoy the book!

Wildflowers of the Midwest

Timber Press has worked with botanists around the United States to develop their wildflower guide series.  Prior guides include Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast, Wildflowers of Texas, Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, Wildflowers of the Rocky Mountain Region, and Wildflowers of New England.

In 2019, Michael Homoya asked me if I would be interested in co-authoring the latest part of this series, Wildflowers of the Midwest.  How could I say no to this opportunity?  I talked it over with Lindsay, knowing that I was already extremely busy, but she encouraged me to go for it, as opportunities like this don't come around very often.  

Working on this guide, which covers herbaceous plants (minus ferns and graminoids) in the eight-state Midwest region (Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin), occupied nearly all of my time on weekends and weeknights after work for over two years.  I am happy to announce that the guide is now available for purchase from the publisher (https://www.workman.com/products/wildflowers-of-the-midwest/paperback) as well as at various other book vendors.

Enjoy!