The National Garden Bureau has designated the perennial for 2013 as wildflowers.

That’s a tall order. Maine has an abundance of wildflowers, including these current local spring natives: cattails, lady’s slippers, bunchberry, false lily-of-the-valley, forget-me-nots, rhodora.

The question is: how does one define a wildflower? Does one count just regional varieties, or does one choose anything that pops up naturally, whether from one’s own back 40 or from Utah, Kansas, Minnesota which take the same general growing conditions?

The last three or four centuries saw bursts of botanical exploration all over the world, and the fashion seemed to be to show off plants from faraway places. Sometimes this worked in the landscape; often it did not.

In our country, stowaways arrived with settlers: daisy seeds in hay used for animal fodder, for instance. These immigrants scarcely count for native wildflowers, but since they began to grow and thrive where they had no enemies in this new land, they began to be treated as natives.

Homesick settlers often brought with them roots and plants such as lilacs and fruit tree seedlings, to remind them of home.

Little did they know that they had brought the ancestors of many of today’s flowering shrubs and orchards.

Again, especially in the 19th century, floral tinkerers began breeding some of the native wild flowers to “improve” them. The gardening public, always eager to try something new in the front yard, spread these handsome newcomers throughout the country.

It’s a wonder there are any original native perennials still growing in the wild!

Many people mix wildflowers with modern imports, looking for effect. A small hillside with bunchberry and ferns suddenly is given a crowd of Carlton daffodils, which makes a splendid splash. It’s inappropriate, but draws delighted attention.

Each spring, wherever you live, somebody or some group gives wildflower walks, pointing out sarsaparilla, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and other delights. Take notes. And bring the paper home to look up any plants you couldn’t identify.

Also keep away from any wildflowers which might bring you grief, but not before you notice what they look like.

If you should, with much thought, put in a patch of native plants, consider which plants are often found growing near them. Here’s another good “noticing” project.

Also, while you match compatible types, do not mass individuals together. If this is a start of a long-term undertaking, be patient; your specimens will live or die quite apart from your planning.

Start with some spring-blooming plants. In the next year, add some late spring/early spring treasures, and slowly work through wildflowers for summer to fall.

One does not go digging up wild varieties, nor should one buy plants dug up by anyone, unless those plants are about to be run down by earth-moving machines on the way to build housing developments or factories. Any good wildflower dealer will tell the buyer that a chosen kind has been nursery-propagated.

Whether looking for wild plants or planning a wildflower garden, read up on them. I believe Marilyn Dwelley’s exquisite colored drawings and short but explicit descriptions are still in print: look for “Spring Wildflowers of New England” and “Summer and Fall Wildflowers of New England.”

Another (but not for carrying in a purse or back pocket) is William Cullina’s “Wildflowers: A Guide to Growing and Propagating Native Flowers of North America.” It spans the continent, but is most useful for gardeners in Maine. There are other books that you can find and judge for yourself.

The National Garden Bureau promotes wild flowers this year, but this topic is enormous. There’s much more to say … and do.