A13

Bill Robb

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In a lovely book called "The Gentle Art of Tramping," author Stephen Graham described why he enjoyed his country walks so much.

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Bill Robb/This Week

What is more beautiful than a summer walk on a country road?

"As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream, the great door, that does not look like a door, opens."

I thought of that this week when, instead of my normal walks through town and city, I ventured farther afield to take in our beautiful countryside. There's a reason we're called the picture province, and I have always thought it was because of our meadows of wildflowers that spring up eccentric and colourful in the August of each year.

We possess one of the most impressive places in all of the North American continent to observe the unique beauty of hundreds of colourful, fragrant species of wildflowers in safe and accessible natural settings.

Our unique geography of tidal waters, coastal wetlands, significant hills and uninterrupted woodlands provides prime conditions for more than 1,500 different kinds of wildflowers to bloom profusely.

And say what you will about New Brunswick's road system, we have over the generations managed to build and maintain a network of country roads that reach into our heartland, into sparsely populated areas and pristine wild preserves. This is the week to drive to one, then exit the car and walk at least a kilometre in any direction, just to get the experience of the fresh and fragrant country air.

If you need a designated spot, you can go to one of our two federal national parks, Fundy and Kouchibouguac, which offer protected areas for natural growth. We have a well-developed Trans Canada Trail system, augmented with a number of additional country walks maintained by the nature-loving volunteers of dozens of little towns and villages.

Right now, more than any other time of the year, our country meadows are a veritable canvas of yellow, purple, red and white as nature's garden comes alive with its mixture of annuals and perennials.

A number of guides to the province's wildflowers have been produced throughout the years, including the informative "Hind's Flora of New Brunswick" (1986) and "Peter's Field Guide to Edible Plants of Northeastern North America" (1977) which remains to this day an excellent book to tuck into your backpack with your binoculars.

My personal favourite, however, is "Wildflowers of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island" by Mary Primrose and Marian Zinck (Formac Publishing Co. Ltd.) (1998). Wildflowers most common in meadows are black-eyed Susan, red clover, ox-eye daisy, pasture rose, and wild casters. Clump-forming grasses like timothy and tall fescue are the backdrop to wildflower meadows.