One of the things I learned about when I worked at a local land trust was spring ephemerals. Going into the job, I didn’t know much. I knew a lot about other topics, but spring ephemerals had escaped my attention.
After I worked at the Mississippi Valley Conservancy in 2019, I learned to look for these essential spring woodland plants. While walking in the Northwoods this week, I saw that the trilliums had sprouted and bloomed.
Until their white blooms grace the brown and early green understory of the forest, you don’t realize they’re getting ready to put on a show. Once I saw them on the trail, I noticed them everywhere this week.
Seeing them inspired me to do two things: 1) notice what else was happening in the woods, 2) write a poem about what I saw.
Just over three years ago, I wrote about spring ephemerals. You can check out that post below.
Trilliums are a native woodland flower that blooms in the spring. Here is more about trilliums specifically:
You should never pick a trillium in the wild. In some states, certain species are threatened or endangered. Below, I’ve listed a few sources that discuss that. My neighbor told me that harvesting Trillium from woodlands in Wisconsin was illegal (and I have no intention of doing so) but I have yet to find a resource that states that.
https://www.charlevoixareagardenclub.org/post/trillium-are-threatened-with-extinction
Instead, last year I bought Trillium seeds and spread them throughout our woods. Prairie Moon Nursery has trillium seeds. It takes a long time for the seeds to germinate but I think this beautiful plant that signals spring is worth the wait!
Today is Poetry Friday. Romona has the round up on her blog,
Thanks for hosting!
The Apples in My Orchard 
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