Observing summer wildflowers of Southern Ontario, Western NY and Michigan while hiking with our dog

K2, our Kuvasz boy, looked at the slope of a small ravine. It was not a casual glance. There was no wild animal to arouse his interest in the slope. Out of curiosity, we looked too. Thousands of white, yellow, red, moave, and violet wildflowers of several varieties were blooming on the slope. The scent of flowers, the odor of slightly damp grass and ferns and fragrance of wood and leaves of some nearby trees all mixed up to give an entrancing aroma of its own.

The wind was blowing ever so lightly, making us feel as if the foliage and nearby trees were whispering a lullaby. That was what had attracted K2’s attention. He stood there for a minute, taking in the scenery, and then plunged in the thick foliage. The flowers shook vigorously as he did that. He started smelling the flowers, curious as to what so many of them were doing there.

Or it could have been a scent left by a coyote, raccoon, or even a rabbit, we were not sure, except when he decided to lie down there deep in the foliage, taking a breather from a hot and humid summer day conditions and, in a half sleep and half ecstatic posture, casually took a bite or two at the nearest flowers.

Why do hiking for the sake of hiking only? Why not connect with nature, for example, with wild flowers, at micro level? It is soothing for mind and body you know.

When we looked for them, the Mother Nature rewarded us with the sights of wildflowers blooming in the summer in every nook and corner of the wild.

We observed those flowers taking up every niche of the landscape available from worked up soils to the small cracks among the otherwise impervious rocks.

In this article I am producing some wildflowers that we observed during our summer season hikes. Most of these flowers are omnipresent in the eastern USA and Canada. I am also giving advice on which one you can pick freely for decoration.

Please note that all these pictures have been taken using my characteristic hike-see-point-shoot technique of photography, using my blackberry this time. I didn’t really work on my shots like nature photographers typically would.

Also, I will appreciate if the readers could correct me on any misidentified flowers.

In the meantime, please enjoy your hike through the trails and meadows showcasing colourful flowers.