Jack and I were out in the country this morning looking for wildflowers and we found trilliums. They grow in wooded areas all over the province and are protected by law, so no digging up plants to bring home. They’re one of my favorite flowers and a real treat to find because the flowers come and go so quickly. Usually they come in sequence with red trilliums first and white trilliums last, but this year they’re up and blooming together. In fact, all the wildflowers are up and blooming together this year. In the space of one week of warm weather all the leaves have arrived and the flowers are blooming. It’s like spring has exploded this year.
Red Trillium
White Trillium
©voyager, all rights reserved
I have a special place in my heart for red trillium. Where I grew up, white was far more common, so finding a red was a real treat.
Trilliums and jack-in-the-pulpit were the neat finds in the forest.
I love the lighting in the red photo, gloriously velvety.
Oh, how beautiful!
Splendid.
I’ve only seen trilliums in others’ photos, never in person, but they do look like very special wildflowers. The first shot is just wonderful, a lovely use of light to bring out all the details in those red petals.
Thanks rq, it’s the same here. Most of our trilliums are white, but I’ve been stalking these woods for years so I know where the red ones hide.
Thank you Caine and Charly.
Nightjar, thanks. That was a hard shot to get. Red trilliums are about 25 cm high and bloom facing down!
They grow in wooded areas all over the province and are protected by law, so no digging up plants to bring home.
I remember hearing this when I was a boy (several years ago, cough, cough) and I think it was a “rural legend”. I think it still is just that. The real problem is that they take years to recover when picked, especially if the roots are even slightly damaged.
To be honest, I cannot see anyone without the resources of a professional, government or university level nursery being able to transplant trilliums successfully. The University of Guelph might manage it. Or maybe McGill’s Macdonald College.
And, of course, anyone digging up a plant should be charged with theft.
Ah, yes.
http://www.couchichingconserv.ca/trilliums-woodland-beauties/
@ rq
Same here about red trilliums, perhaps less than 1% red among a (small) sea of white? They were a bit of a thrill to see.
They are gorgeous.
Thanks, jrkrideau. I wish it was illegal, because trilliums are fragile. Many years ago I dug some up that never came back in either place. The park where we walk is a protected wildflower sanctuary and it’s illegal there to dig up any plant.
Voyager:
That’s truly nice. I like that idea very much, where such fragile beauty is protected from peoples’ impulses, which are so often destructive, even when that is not what is meant.