Our annual trillium trek to a local wildlife management area was advanced a few weeks as we saw them beginning to flower at similar mountain elevations a week earlier. Recent weeks of summer-like temperatures have altered the blooming schedule of many plants. Our timing to catch the trilliums at their peak was perfect.

Barbara and I enjoy the varied trillium species that begin flowering in early April and have spread in small patches through our shaded front and side gardens. While the white flowered Trillium grandiflorum is the local native, typically peaking about the first of May, on this annual hike we witness many thousands of the ephemeral beauties.

A few weeks ago, the forest was nearly bare, so today’s cover of green foliage and flowers is greatly appreciated. Ladyslipper orchids are a week from flowering in our garden, so we were hoping to catch a few with emerging foliage. We were surprised to see several flowering, but as always, disappointed to see that several had disappeared from spots we had seen them a year ago. We suspect they have been pilfered from this public space.