Tag Archives: never pick Trilliums

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Always lovely to see, Western Trilliums are in bloom on the Mendonoma Coast now. Tricia Schuster photographed one of the first ones to bloom.

Promise me you won't pick them! If picked, the leaf-like bracts won't be there to produce food for next year. Picking trilliums can kill them, or at the very least, set them back for years. So not worth it, right?

Western Trillium blossoms change color as they age. Here's a photo Craig Tooley took some years ago showing the fresh white trillium and an older trillium, perhaps 5 to 7 days older, with a pink blossom.

Thanks to Tricia and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: www.ruffimage.com

Another sunny, warm, dry - as in no rain for weeks - day. New flash! The first of the northbound Gray Whales have been seen of our coast. These are the newly pregnant females headed to their feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas.

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Bob Rutemoeller spotted this rare trillium, Trillium albidum, or Sweet Trillium.

The flowers are fragrant, I am told. The flower of any trillium should never be picked. So if you find one or more, just enjoy them where they are. Western Trilliums, the more common trillium, are blooming now in shady forests. The Sweet Trillium prefers more sun. Here's a photo of a Western Trillium for comparison, photo taken by Renee Jardine.

Thanks to Bob and Renee for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

A big storm is forecast to drop a lot of rain on the Mendonoma coast. It is already raining this afternoon. Waterfalls will be coming back to life with this much-needed rain. Thank you, Mother Nature!

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Western Trilliums are blooming in the forest. Phil Wendt recently photographed a nice group of these delicate wildflowers.

Below is a Trillium kissed by raindrops. It's darker, pink blossom tells you it is older. Trilliums are white when they first bloom.

Never pick this wildflower. If you do, it will not receive the nutrients it needs to bloom again next year. It takes years for a Trillium to recover from being picked. Just leave them be and they will bloom for many days.

Thanks to Phil for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see Phil's website, Life on the Edge, here is the link: www.philwendt.com

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Trilliums have been blooming on the Mendonoma Coast. Kay Martin came across what she calls Nature's planter - an old section of a Redwood Tree.

Peter Baye told me this is called a "nursery log." Below is a close-up of the Trilliums. You can tell they are newly bloomed as the blossoms are white. With age they will turn pink and then purple.

Never pick these wildflowers - it might take four or five years for the plant to recover and bloom again. Just enjoy them as Mother Nature has placed them.

Thanks to Kay for allowing me to share her photo with you here.