Sunday, January 20, 2008

Best of 2007: Trillium

Kate dropped by the other day to see how the January thaw was going. Well it has come to an abrupt and brutal end. The temperature bottomed out at -13 degrees celsius today. The windchill made it feel like -25. I can't believe that just a few days ago I told Soilman that a Canadian winter wasn't much of a winter these days. Talk about a reality check. And this isn't even really the dead of winter is it? February is still to come. This sad, faded little poinsetta sums up the mood. Uggh.

But gardeners aren't the type to give in to despair. A little inspiration is in order. So over the next few days, I'll be looking at some of 2007's greatest hits.

The white trillium in the provincial flower of Ontario. As an urban dweller my exposure to this forest dweller was largely limited to images on flags and coats of arms and such. One year my mother planted one in her garden. The single white flower has been appearing year after year ever since. It never changes. It never multiplies. I was decidedly unimpressed. But my opinion changed in an instant when I saw this. A field of trillium as far as the eye could see at my inlaws' place near Flamborough, Ontario (click on the image for a closer look). Quite simply magical. Now I cheer on that lonely single specimen in my mother's garden. Naturalize, naturalize, naturalize. If I dream it, it will grow.

2 comments:

Ottawa Gardener said...

Oh the joys of May... so far away.

I have great big patches of Trillium but I am not sure how long they have been here. Perhaps since 1959 when the house was built.

Connie said...

The trillium are beautiful, as well as the setting!