Who is Minnesota Wildflowers?

This web site was created by Katy Chayka, Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteer and native plant enthusiast, with collaboration by Peter M. Dziuk, noted imaginographer and long-time native plant advocate.

Katy is a self-proclaimed born-again nature lover who fell in love with wildflowers when a spot of color caught her eye as she walked a park near her home in New Brighton. Curiosity piqued as she started taking digital images of all the flowers in the park. She searched various sources to try and ID them. Disappointed with both the quality and quantity of information about MN plants, she set out to make a better resource for ordinary people like herself. MinnesotaWildflowers.info was thus born. Wanting to know more about the world these plants live in, she enrolled in the MN Master Naturalist program and connected with other volunteers, as well as people in various environmental agencies and organizations. She is a self-taught botanist who learned a great deal about invasive species along the way and is on something of a mission to spread the word. A recent feature in the Star Tribune Home & Garden section tells more of the story.

Peter has been an avid gardener his entire life and has degrees in horticulture, biology and has secondary education certification. He worked for the MN Dept of Agriculture for more than 18 years as state program coordinator for gypsy moth, invasive species, shade tree program, Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) as well as a few years as a nursery inspector. Peter started taking digital images of plants as part of his invasive species outreach activities when digital cameras were coming into use and quickly started his own private collection of native plants and common weeds. Peter’s experiences in dealing with non-native pest problems helped shape his passionate advocacy for native species. (It is noted that the agency never had a comprehensive weed program, and still doesn't. It wasn't for lack of trying, though—it was mostly for lack of funding, and pressures from commercial interests to make money selling weeds. But that is another story...)

Katy and Peter met in 2009 while on a field trip with the Minnesota Native Plant Society. By the end of that year Peter had donated his collection of 50,000 plant images to the web site and the two have been working on the site together ever since. Their goal is to record all 2100+ plant species in the state and branch out to the rest of the Upper Midwest.

The site has gained popularity not just with ordinary people wanting to know what they find out in the wild, but also as a resource for agencies, institutions and organizations within Minnesota, nationally, and around the globe. We are honored so many people find the site useful, as that is what it was always meant to be.

cheers,
Katy Chayka & Peter Dziuk
Minnesota Wildflowers