Dropping my son off at a Scout camp this summer at a Scout Reserve just north of To-ronto, I was amazed at the variety of wildflowers in bloom.

Various shapes, sizes and colours. What I found more amazing, however, was that many of these grew happily in my suburban garden, having been purchased from nurseries over the years.

I spotted mallow (that generous seeder which now graces many beds in my garden and that of my friends) and sea campion, violets, daisies and those tall orange day lilies, to name just a few.

Wildflowers of Canada by Tim Fitzharris is a wonderful book for anyone who is interested in wildflowers and native plants.

Species descriptions are accompanied by lush photographs taken by Fitzharris.

More than a 100 species have been classified according to habitat in this naturalist’s guide. You will find flowers from wetlands, woodlands, prairies, meadows and alpine tundra...as well as what crops up in your backyard!

I was happy to discover a plant that I’ve called wild snapdragon because its small yellow and peach flowers resemble a snapdragon, was really Butter-and-eggs and belongs to the flax family. Its common name? Toadflax. A few shoots had come in a clump of phlox that Linda gave me. Weeds, she said, throw them out.

But greedy gardener that I am, I carefully transplanted them to a spot behind a peony and waited to see what might develop. And develop it did. After rewarding me with lots of bright nodding flowers on featherey foliage, it spread – rapidly – on the lawn. Firm measures and regular whacking back have confined it to a few bright tufts.

Who knew my honeysuckle was officially a wildflower found in woodlands across Canada? Or that Spiderwort is a wildflower that thrives in moist woods and meadows? In my garden, it flowers profusely all summer long and I have divided the original clump quite a few times since receiving the original from Amy.

And I can bet most would not dream of placing the exotic looking blooms of this plant in the wildflower category but it is appropriate, wouldn’t you think, for one called tigerlily? Those that are tempted to dismiss wildflowers as weeds would be surprised to find this ‘weed’ selling for $9.99 for a medium-sized plant at nurseries across town! Ditto with Black-eyed-Susans and blue iris which, I learned from this book, are officially wildflowers. As are California poppies.

Goldenrods, of course, are infamous for being weeds. Although the brilliant yellow plume-like flower clusters of goldenrod are of little interest to humans, their scent and colour attract a variety of insect pollinators, according to Wildflowers of Canada.

Columbines comes in all sizes and colours and seed so profusely that they will grow in cracks in the pavement. The red-and-yellow version is a wildflower that blooms from coast to coast and attracts hummingbirds.

I knew purple coneflowers, which have performed spectacularly in my garden and earned their spot high on my list of favourites were native wildflowers, but Tough Plants For Tough Places by Peter Loewer also educated me on the fact that dozens of other plants in my garden are really bonafide American wildflowers. Pearly Everlasting, gifted to me by a friend, is one. The giant perennial sunflowers are wildflowers. And so are the delicate coral bells. Obedient plant that spreads so easily that it’s almost invasive, is another. And so, is yucca. The cactus-like plant with sword-shaped leaves and tall plumes of white bell-shaped flowers which looks like it would be more at home in a hot desert landscape? Yes, that’s another wildflower.

So go out and examine the plants in your yards and those of your neighbours and get to know some of those "weeds" on a first name basis!