What's Doin' the Bloomin'?

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Work
Review: I was extremely pleased when I received this book in the mail. I wasn't expecting the the pictures to be so beautifully vibrant and colorful. I'm not really sure what the previous review was making reference to. Each photograph is accompanied by text describing exactly how tall each flower is. I did take this book with me to a few parks, and I was easily able to locate and identify plants with its assistance. Even if you don't plan to use this book as a reference guide, it makes for beautiful viewing nonetheless. I hope this review was helpful to you.

Rating:
Summary: Not a plant ID book
Review: If you are looking for a book with beautiful color photos of northeastern U.S. wild flowers, then this book will serve that purpose well. However, this is not what I would consider a helpful identification book. Many of the photos are close-ups of just the flowers which gives no sense of scale. The close-ups also mean that the leaves/vegetative parts of the plant remain a mystery. The text is kept to a minimum for each species. There is plenty of room on the page for more information, but the authors have left that space for the reader to make notes. The information that is provided is very sketchy in terms of habitat, identifying characteristics, and so on. Obviously a book of this size can't have everything, so the authors have sacrificed information in favor of visual stimulus. So enjoy the nice color photos, but don't expect to get much more out of this book.