Traveling with Wildflowers from Newfoundland to Alaska

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Color packs this small book, which features maps, photos, 20 watercolor
landscapes and 46 plates of wildflowers. The framework for the guide is
a sweep across North America, with stops at 44 sites. Each site (most
are parks) is the subject of a chapter, with a brief text about the trip
and illustrations of a selection of wildflowers found there.

As a botanical illustrator, Hammond achieves amazing detail. Watercolor
painting is usually a fairly messy business, resulting in soft, fuzzy
impressions. Not here. Her dry technique gives extraordinary precision
and control, enabling the paintings to double as identification
illustrations.

The landscapes, in contrast, are in the more familiar wet technique.
Here she exercises her creativity, showing a freedom of approach to
communicating her impressions. Her range of approaches is huge.

The text is not up to the standard of the paintings and illustrations.
Although a bit self-conscious and somewhat stilted, it nonetheless
succeeds in conveying the author’s fascination with the diverse
geography encountered on her travels.

The lack of an index to the wildflower illustrations is a serious flaw,
yet nothing can take away from the quality of Hammond’s remarkable
watercolors.