Spring wildflower season usually gets away from me because I spend much of April and May looking in trees and shrubs for birds instead.
About ten years ago I put a couple of Trillium luteum (yellow trillium) plants under our serviceberry which sits under a white oak tree. I figured that would be plenty of shade for them.
The thing is, I usually forget to look for the plants each year, and by the time I remember, they are past their prime.
In mid-May this one was definitely past its prime:
But when I peeked under some hosta leaves to find the other one, I was happy to see its little yellow flowers.
These plants have pretty, mottled bracts, and the flowers attract pollinating insects.
I was hoping they would colonize a little bit, but we’ve had so many dry summers over the last several years, I should just be thankful they are still thriving. Trilliums are woodland plants that prefer moist soil.
When my friend Jill and I were birdwatching at our local arboretum in late April, we came across this gorgeous trillium in bloom. I’d never seen one like it before:
It’s Trillium recurvatum or prairie trillium. When I searched for information about this plant, I discovered one of its nicknames is “bloody butcher” because the burgundy petals are the color of raw meat. Such an extreme name for such a pretty woodland plant!
My favorite trillium of all is the showy Trillium grandiflorum with its big white flowers:
There are a couple of birdwatching spots I visit each spring where the forest floor is covered with these pretty flowers.
