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Common Backyard Weeds of the Upper Midwest
Learn to identify backyard weeds! Hundreds of full-color photos with easy-to-understand text make this a great visual guide to learning about nearly 60 species of common weeds--toxic, edible or otherwise interesting--found in the Upper Midwest, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The species (from Dandelion to Purslane) are organized by type, so you can identify them by their visual characteristics. Plus, learn about how each weed spreads, how to control it and its possible beneficial uses. The information, presented by expert forager Teresa Marrone, is accessible to beginners but useful for even experienced wild plants enthusiasts.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 28, 2022
A little too narrow - pokeweed has been the most common and most dangerous feature of my new garden, and it didn’t feature. That said, what is does it does fine - did help me take out some nascent ragweed, which I’m very allergic to.
At least this book opened me up to the truth: Gardening isn’t fun, it’s war.
At least this book opened me up to the truth: Gardening isn’t fun, it’s war.
December 28, 2017
Fantastic resource for identification & recommended removal method. My favorite part of each plant profile is the “what is it good for” section, where you can learn how to (potentially) eat it.
March 25, 2026
Handy, informative book on weeds. Gives details on how to identify, how to eradicate, and if they are edible.
July 8, 2026
Hoping there will be some significant differences between this book (2017) and the similar book ... of the Midwest (2026).
CAUTION - do NOT eat the plants shown in this book unless you are certain the soil they grow in is 'clean'. (See *** below)
This book could be organized a lot more helpfully.
As presented, it reads like a text book intended to challenge and also perhaps discourage the student. Jargon, plant parts, technical terms - and not one of the photos in the initial section has a caption! Not one plant is named in the first section of "Common Backyard Weeds" - come on!
The easiest path to learning is to connect new information to existing knowledge. So "this is a nightshade, note the alternate leaves along the stem" would be immensely more effective than just a definition and an anonymous photo from a distance. Explaining terms in the appropriate plant section works fine for the "spikelet" definition with Yellow Nutsedge. Why not box a little section for each plant, defining the terms used in that description? With that approach, the sections on terms and definitions would be a welcome resource - at the back of the book, as an APPENDIX.
Online the photos can be opened in a separate window, but why are they so small that doing this is constantly necessary? And why aren't the photos clearly identified?
When the book does attempt this, further in, the e-layout is often a disaster.
The entries do a good job of describing and displaying the plants. One might not be able to use it well to identify new plants, but if you've seen it in the wild, you'll likely recognize it in the book. It also identifies similar plants and explains the differences, which is quite useful.
However, it does not list similar plants near to each other, nor does it group plants by likely environment, e.g. open roadside, yards, forest, old industrial sites, etc. It would also be helpful to show a common grouping, e.g. 'birdsfoot trefoil is often found with oxeye daisy' (or whatever is actually the case.)
The book also fails to provide important CAUTIONS. At the VERY least, this book should be stating the type of concerns the reader should look into for each plant.
The book NEEDS a CAUTIONS and Concerns entry for each plant.
These failures are most frustrating because much of the information one wants is buried in this book, just not in a readily accessible presentation. A trained professional, or someone with a photographic memory, might find this more useful. But this is definitely not a book for the beginner or the 'uninitiated'.
Also quite put off by the suggestion of using herbicides to eradicate the plants. Especially with most 'common backyard weeds' feeding plenty of wildlife. As recently as 2017, was that really a responsible option? That said, the book does specify which type of herbicide should work for each plant. This would at least limit the number and amount of herbicides used, if they are deemed necessary.
***CLEAN soil?***
One concern is that there is no mention of whether each plant is safe to consume/use without knowing the condition of the environment. That is, whether the plant incorporates toxins in the environment in its body. For example, dandelions, a fantastic 'bitter green' that can be eaten in its entirety with the exception of mature seeds, DO readily absorb toxins, heavy metals, and chemicals from the soil. As does pigweed, lamb's quarters, nettle, fennel, rhubarb, sunflowers ... in fact most plants that grow wild and native in open areas and wild forest. That is a service these plants provide, cleaning the soil. But not every creature can safely process Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium, insecticide, nitrates, and humans certainly would suffer for consuming any of it.
So it is VITAL to know about the soil plants are harvested from. Roadsides, industrial sites, unknown open fields are ALL highly risky, and eating these plants from those sites WILL mean ingesting heavy metals, chemicals, and other toxins that used to be in the soil.
These plants are SO good at cleaning the soil and storing the toxins in their leaves and roots, they are used for cleaning up toxic sites. This is called 'phytoremediation'.
While there is a warning, it is AT THE END of the book, BEHIND even the references. This section should be in the front, along with the explanations and introductions about the book and the plants included and excluded.
This book completely LACKS clear cautions about the risks of consuming each plant (they differ) and reminders for 'absorbers' that clean, safe, non-toxic soil should be confirmed before eating any plant 'from the wild'. If a property even had a 'lawn service', the soil needs to be tested! Omitting this information is a HUGE failure imo - something that CAN be eaten does not adequately convey when to be extra careful about clean soil!
The references section seems a bit thin, for all the plants and information provided in this collection. At least one entry mentions the renowned wild forager, Samuel Thayer, but there isn't a single work referenced, not even the well known "The Forager's Harvest"?
WISHES for future publications:
Place pictures, LARGE pictures, WITH captions on the left, text to the right, place supportive reference sections for this non-academic text IN THE BACK -"Leaf shapes" "Flower Parts" "Habitats", etc. Include a convenient table-glossary in the front for quick reference help. (None of this is 'new' info for experienced publishers!)
Put the WARNINGS about harvesting and eating at the FRONT of the book.
Put the general terminology section at the back, and NAME the plants being used to illustrate the terms.
Add arrows with labels to all the pictures, as was done to some extent with the parts of flowers.
Add a line drawing or outline of the parts being described, to clearly share what the eye should be focusing on to identify each part.
Wouldn't it have been wonderful to provide a grid of plants with their features, so someone seeing a plant with, for example, a shallowly-lobed leaf, or a flower spike, would know which plants in the book to look at to help with identification? That would also assist learning - seeing a few plants with a particular feature would support understanding that feature's appearance.
What's to like?
Tips about each plant, how it grows, what it's good for, how to eradicate it effectively. Who knew plantain was edible? Or how many different birds and mammals eat chickweed? Also like the multiple photos, and the extended explanations for some of the "What is it Good For" sections. E.G. the note about Snakeroot, the plant that may have killed Abe Lincoln's mother, through a cow eating it and thereby tainting its milk...
What did I learn about in my yard? Hmm, I knew about the yarrow, but oh, that's Wood Sorrel! Toad flax, Oxeye Daisy, what else will I find?
This book is worth a look, but definitely check the web about any wild-grown plant before eating or using it! Do soil toxins make their way into its leaves? Are there medical concerns?
Maybe the updated version solves some of the issues?
CAUTION - do NOT eat the plants shown in this book unless you are certain the soil they grow in is 'clean'. (See *** below)
This book could be organized a lot more helpfully.
As presented, it reads like a text book intended to challenge and also perhaps discourage the student. Jargon, plant parts, technical terms - and not one of the photos in the initial section has a caption! Not one plant is named in the first section of "Common Backyard Weeds" - come on!
The easiest path to learning is to connect new information to existing knowledge. So "this is a nightshade, note the alternate leaves along the stem" would be immensely more effective than just a definition and an anonymous photo from a distance. Explaining terms in the appropriate plant section works fine for the "spikelet" definition with Yellow Nutsedge. Why not box a little section for each plant, defining the terms used in that description? With that approach, the sections on terms and definitions would be a welcome resource - at the back of the book, as an APPENDIX.
Online the photos can be opened in a separate window, but why are they so small that doing this is constantly necessary? And why aren't the photos clearly identified?
When the book does attempt this, further in, the e-layout is often a disaster.
The entries do a good job of describing and displaying the plants. One might not be able to use it well to identify new plants, but if you've seen it in the wild, you'll likely recognize it in the book. It also identifies similar plants and explains the differences, which is quite useful.
However, it does not list similar plants near to each other, nor does it group plants by likely environment, e.g. open roadside, yards, forest, old industrial sites, etc. It would also be helpful to show a common grouping, e.g. 'birdsfoot trefoil is often found with oxeye daisy' (or whatever is actually the case.)
The book also fails to provide important CAUTIONS. At the VERY least, this book should be stating the type of concerns the reader should look into for each plant.
The book NEEDS a CAUTIONS and Concerns entry for each plant.
These failures are most frustrating because much of the information one wants is buried in this book, just not in a readily accessible presentation. A trained professional, or someone with a photographic memory, might find this more useful. But this is definitely not a book for the beginner or the 'uninitiated'.
Also quite put off by the suggestion of using herbicides to eradicate the plants. Especially with most 'common backyard weeds' feeding plenty of wildlife. As recently as 2017, was that really a responsible option? That said, the book does specify which type of herbicide should work for each plant. This would at least limit the number and amount of herbicides used, if they are deemed necessary.
***CLEAN soil?***
One concern is that there is no mention of whether each plant is safe to consume/use without knowing the condition of the environment. That is, whether the plant incorporates toxins in the environment in its body. For example, dandelions, a fantastic 'bitter green' that can be eaten in its entirety with the exception of mature seeds, DO readily absorb toxins, heavy metals, and chemicals from the soil. As does pigweed, lamb's quarters, nettle, fennel, rhubarb, sunflowers ... in fact most plants that grow wild and native in open areas and wild forest. That is a service these plants provide, cleaning the soil. But not every creature can safely process Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium, insecticide, nitrates, and humans certainly would suffer for consuming any of it.
So it is VITAL to know about the soil plants are harvested from. Roadsides, industrial sites, unknown open fields are ALL highly risky, and eating these plants from those sites WILL mean ingesting heavy metals, chemicals, and other toxins that used to be in the soil.
These plants are SO good at cleaning the soil and storing the toxins in their leaves and roots, they are used for cleaning up toxic sites. This is called 'phytoremediation'.
While there is a warning, it is AT THE END of the book, BEHIND even the references. This section should be in the front, along with the explanations and introductions about the book and the plants included and excluded.
This book completely LACKS clear cautions about the risks of consuming each plant (they differ) and reminders for 'absorbers' that clean, safe, non-toxic soil should be confirmed before eating any plant 'from the wild'. If a property even had a 'lawn service', the soil needs to be tested! Omitting this information is a HUGE failure imo - something that CAN be eaten does not adequately convey when to be extra careful about clean soil!
The references section seems a bit thin, for all the plants and information provided in this collection. At least one entry mentions the renowned wild forager, Samuel Thayer, but there isn't a single work referenced, not even the well known "The Forager's Harvest"?
WISHES for future publications:
Place pictures, LARGE pictures, WITH captions on the left, text to the right, place supportive reference sections for this non-academic text IN THE BACK -"Leaf shapes" "Flower Parts" "Habitats", etc. Include a convenient table-glossary in the front for quick reference help. (None of this is 'new' info for experienced publishers!)
Put the WARNINGS about harvesting and eating at the FRONT of the book.
Put the general terminology section at the back, and NAME the plants being used to illustrate the terms.
Add arrows with labels to all the pictures, as was done to some extent with the parts of flowers.
Add a line drawing or outline of the parts being described, to clearly share what the eye should be focusing on to identify each part.
Wouldn't it have been wonderful to provide a grid of plants with their features, so someone seeing a plant with, for example, a shallowly-lobed leaf, or a flower spike, would know which plants in the book to look at to help with identification? That would also assist learning - seeing a few plants with a particular feature would support understanding that feature's appearance.
What's to like?
Tips about each plant, how it grows, what it's good for, how to eradicate it effectively. Who knew plantain was edible? Or how many different birds and mammals eat chickweed? Also like the multiple photos, and the extended explanations for some of the "What is it Good For" sections. E.G. the note about Snakeroot, the plant that may have killed Abe Lincoln's mother, through a cow eating it and thereby tainting its milk...
What did I learn about in my yard? Hmm, I knew about the yarrow, but oh, that's Wood Sorrel! Toad flax, Oxeye Daisy, what else will I find?
This book is worth a look, but definitely check the web about any wild-grown plant before eating or using it! Do soil toxins make their way into its leaves? Are there medical concerns?
Maybe the updated version solves some of the issues?
August 3, 2021
The information here is clear and informative. Nothing wrong that I can see.
I just find myself frustrated by the concept of weeds right now, I think. Is clover a weed? I don't really find it to be so. I like clover. I don't mind it in my lawn, etc.
However, I think this is essentially a problem with me and the vague definition of the word 'weed.' There were some here I didn't think necessary and others I wish were included. Such is life with a non-fiction subject.
I just find myself frustrated by the concept of weeds right now, I think. Is clover a weed? I don't really find it to be so. I like clover. I don't mind it in my lawn, etc.
However, I think this is essentially a problem with me and the vague definition of the word 'weed.' There were some here I didn't think necessary and others I wish were included. Such is life with a non-fiction subject.
May 28, 2019
This may be the best book. It does not work well using Amazon Fire or perhaps all e-readers. Only able to sort it go to (my choice) broad leaf uprights. Then must go through each page to try to find the weed. On my reader the book was 715 pages. More options under broad leaf uprights would have been helpful, i.e. number of leaves, shape, etc. Or set up like a field guide with names, pics, then click on more info. It was such a mess to click through the pages I wasn't interested in, this book is really 1 star. Figured that wasn't the author's fault
July 28, 2020
Incredible resource book that is pocket sized. Large, clearly labeled color photographs along with 1-2 page descriptions - enough that you can clearly identify, but not too much that you are overwhelmed with information. Also useful, if plant is similar to a poisonous plant, the author describes and shows picture of the differences between the two.
I am a beginning hobby farmer and I like to supplement livestock feed with weeds for nutrients, fresh forage, and diet variety. This is an ABSOLUTE GEM to take with me to identify weeds I can feed or avoid.
I am a beginning hobby farmer and I like to supplement livestock feed with weeds for nutrients, fresh forage, and diet variety. This is an ABSOLUTE GEM to take with me to identify weeds I can feed or avoid.
April 11, 2020
Will be buying this book to have on hand as a reference. Good, clear pictures and informative but not distracting look-a-like information.
June 15, 2020
Borrowed ebook from library and will be buying a copy for home reference.
July 30, 2023
This looks like a book I might want for my garden library, it is nice to check it out before buying so I'm not disappointed if the book is not what I expected. I like the bright pictures and descriptions, but some of the plants I grow in my garden such as Yarrow, Creeping Jenny. Now to figure out where to put it on the bingo card for our public libraries summer reading program.
March 12, 2026
-4 stars. nice pictures, though for some of them i wished there were a couple more pictures to help me differentiate from similar looking ones.
the book is divided into four sections: creeping and low-growing weeds, upright broadleaf weeds, vining weeds, and grasslike weeds.
-plants i'm certain about identifying:
plantain, spurge, clover, dandelion, purslane, creeping charlie, ragweed, giant ragweed, lambsquarter, daisy, black nightshade, wood sorrel/lemon clover, mullein, prickly lettuce, milkweed, catnip/catmint.
-plants i'm still uncertain about
chickweed, peppergrass/pepperweed, carpetweed, black medick, poison ivy (i've never seen it in person that i know of), nettle (i thought i knew it but their picture is different), garlic mustard, cleaver/sticky-willy/goosegrass, horseweed, bindweed, knotweed, leafy spurge, goldenrod, vetch, quack grass, foxtail, crabgrass, goosegrass, stinkgrass.
the book is divided into four sections: creeping and low-growing weeds, upright broadleaf weeds, vining weeds, and grasslike weeds.
-plants i'm certain about identifying:
plantain, spurge, clover, dandelion, purslane, creeping charlie, ragweed, giant ragweed, lambsquarter, daisy, black nightshade, wood sorrel/lemon clover, mullein, prickly lettuce, milkweed, catnip/catmint.
-plants i'm still uncertain about
chickweed, peppergrass/pepperweed, carpetweed, black medick, poison ivy (i've never seen it in person that i know of), nettle (i thought i knew it but their picture is different), garlic mustard, cleaver/sticky-willy/goosegrass, horseweed, bindweed, knotweed, leafy spurge, goldenrod, vetch, quack grass, foxtail, crabgrass, goosegrass, stinkgrass.
Read
August 12, 2018I'm greatly amused by how many of these "weeds" are edible
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews