Location Taken: Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan
Time Taken: June 2010
I’m pretty sure my favorite flower is “Whatever wildflower I just found growing somewhere”.
Ok, either that or gypsum flowers, but then, I’m weird.
There’s just something extra awesome about finding a flower. When you’re in a garden of any ilk, flowers are, well, expected. They may be the most gorgeous flower you’ve ever seen, but there was very little surprise and discovery involved in finding it, unlike a wildflower.
Wildflowers also tend to be a bit smaller, which triggers my feminine “awww, how cute!” mentalities. Perhaps that’s why I go so gaga over alpine meadow flowers, which are the smallest of them all. They have a harder life, so they can’t grow as strong, but somehow the sheer joy in life from just trying your hardest shows through.
And I really like the thrill of spotting something a bit hidden. Wildflowers are in an odd spot for that, being both hidden and flamboyantly obvious at the same time. The colors of the flowers make them stand out, but they’re surrounded by grasses and leaves and all the natural detritus you can imagine.
Of course, the thing I most like about wildflowers is how well they match their environment. Because these plants came from local seeds, and because they chose their own spot to grow, there’s just something right about them in relation to the environment. Gardens tend to just place flowers in aesthetically pleasing and visible spots, which while beautiful in its own right, means the plants are just, well, sitting there. They haven’t found a small spot sheltered from the wind enough for their seed to settle down, with enough water to bring it to life, with similar plants scattered nearby. Wildflowers fill a niche in the environment (and I mean that both ways), and somehow come out more perfect for it.
And the last thing I like about wildflowers is that not only do I not have a clue what type of flower it is (which is normal for me and flowers), I don’t really feel compelled to find out. It just is what it is, where it is.
