Monday, May 13, 2013

Thousands of trilliums blanket forest floors



There are a number of place in the London area to view the spring spectacle of thousands of trilliums in bloom: Warbler Woods, Meadowlily Woods, and Longwoods Conservation Area west of Delaware.

Warbler Woods is mostly the classic white trilliums. That is where I took my granddaughter Saturday to view the flowers. I understand there are more of the red variety of trilliums to be found on a walk through the Meadowlily area. The last time I was at Longwoods, there were a lot of the green striped white trilliums. The green striped flowers are actually infected with a virus. Eventually the diseased plants will die from the infection but it is a long process.

Pink trilliums are found everywhere as these are simply white blooms showing their age.

The trillium is the official provincial flower and often appears on government stuff in a number of stylized forms. 

There is a myth that it is illegal to pick a trillium. It isn't. That said, it is often illegal to pick any flower on land that is not your own. This rule goes double for provincial parks and for the many conservation areas that dot the province.

Years ago my daughter picked some trilliums that were growing on the land beside a  nearby gravel pit. The land was soon to be savagely disturbed by a bulldozer clearing the land for commercial purposes. It was not illegal for the gravel pit owner to rip out hundreds of trilliums growing on his land and I'm sure he did not mind my daughter rescuing a few.

Fiona, my granddaughter, loved her "first walk in the woods." She asked for my camera and took a few pictures to remember the day. She got a nice shot for a three-year-old. See below:

Photographer: Fiona Blair (three-years-old)

I love it when Fiona drops to her knees to find a better angle. It is so cute to see a little three-year-old with more sophisticated photography skills than shooters ten times her age. I'm quite impressed with the enthusiasm for life shown by little kids. We could all learn from the little tykes.

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