On The Verge Of Trilliums in The Woodlands

These Trilliums might help us remember that spring is just around the corner, despite that snow that’s forecast later this week.   These beautiful Trilliums were photographed along the North Muldrew Lake Road in the spring of 2012. (photos by Fred Schulz)

ON THE VERGE OF TRILLIUMS THROUGH THE WOODLANDS

     THERE IS SOMETHING SO SUBTLY ELEGANT AND SPIRITUALLY UPLIFTING, TO WALK THROUGH THE SPATTERED LIGHT AND SHADOW OF A late SPRING WOODLANDS, WITH THE PLEASANT BACKGROUND DIN OF A CRYSTALLINE CATARACT OF SPRING MELT, AND THEN SUDDENLY, AS A WELCOME INTRUSION OF ENCHANTMENT, SEE THE FIRST FEW TRILLIUMS BREAKING THROUGH THE DRIED LEAVES OF SEASONS PAST. ALL AROUND YOU, THE PLANTS ARE PUSHING TOWARD THE SUNLIGHT, AND YOU MUST BE CAREFUL WHERE TO STEP. IT IS A SCENE OF NATURAL HISTORY, UNFOLDING IN ITS GENTLE DRAMA, TO SOON FILL THESE DULL, HAZY WOODS WITH THE SINGING COLORS OF NEW LIFE.

      THE WAYWARD VOYEUR, IS INSTANTLY DRAWN TO THE STRANGE CLUSTERS OF RED AND WHITE FLOWERS, CAMPED IN ODD LOCATIONS; SOME DAZZLING IN THE SUN, OTHERS APPEARING REMARKABLY SOFT AND PASSIVE IN COLOR, AGAINST THE DULL BACKDROP OF MAPLE TRUNKS AND SCATTERED EVERGREENS, STRETCHING UP THE HILLSIDE OF WELL KNOWN LANDSCAPES, LIKE THE AREA OF THE CATHEDRAL MAPLES, ALONG THE MUSKOKA BEACH ROAD. WHEN THEY BLOOM IN MAY, WE WATCH FOR THEM ON OUR FREQUENT MOTOR TRIPS, AND THEY SO PROFOUNDLY IMPRESS US WITH JOYFUL ESSENCE OF THE SEASON…..COMMANDING US TO ROAM AND DISCOVER THE HOME DISTRICT, AS WANDERING, THOUGHTFUL PHILOSOPHER-POETS.

     THEY ARE THE TRUE HARBINGERS OF THE SPRING SEASON IN MUSKOKA. THE WARM WINDS AGITATE THEM IN THEIR TIGHT CLUSTERS, GIVING A FAIRY-LIKE ANIMATION, AND A CANOPY FOR THE CHIPMUNKS AND SQUIRRELS DARTING THROUGH THE PATCHES, SOME YET TO BLOOM. THEY OFFER THE WOODLAND POET INSPIRATION, AND ATTRACT ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS, TO CAPTURE THEIR NATURAL PLACE ON HILLS LIKE THIS, ALONG ROADWAYS, AND COUNTRY LANES; AROUND OLD FARMHOUSES AND HOMESTEADS; IN PASTURES AND ALONG RIVER BANKS.

     I LOOK FORWARD TO THEIR ARRIVAL IN THE TINY WOODLOT HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, IN BOTH COLORS, BENEATH THE POPLARS AND LEANING BIRCHES. THEY WERE HERE WHEN WE ARRIVED AT THIS LITTLE HOMESTEAD, AND WE HAVE AVOIDED ANYTHING THAT WOULD COMPROMISE THEM, IN THEIR LITTLE GARDENS, THAT NEVER GENERATE FURTHER OR MORE EXPANSIVELY THAN THE YEAR BEFORE. BUT THERE HAS NEVER A BEEN A MISSED SEASON, AND OF THIS WE ARE GRATEFUL.

SOME IMAGES OF TRILLIUMS AS TAKEN LAST SPRING BY PHOTOGRAPHER FRED SCHULZ

     I am so pleased to be able to offer these exceptional images of Trilliums, taken last spring, by Muskoka photographer Fred Schulz. These were found in patches along Muldrew Lake Road, here in Gravenhurst. Fred has certainly captured their tantalizing form, texture and colorations.

     As a woodland wanderer, I often find myself, all of a sudden, coming over some steep hillside rocks, and arriving, without any expectation, at an out-of-place pocket on the landscape, to witness such natural extravagances as trilliums in regal bloom; spending time examining them more closely, pondering their purpose in the forest ecology, as the most noted of the Ontario wildflowers.

     We are not so far away from the newest generation of Trilliums to break through the earth, in their floral grandeur, to haunt the traveller, and inspire the artists; enthrall the song writer, and tempt the photographer. The photographs above, are the story today. The enchantment within creation, to tantalize and provoke us….into the exploration of art, as nature wishes to bestow. No gardener is better than the hand of nature upon the landscape……and these Trilliums speak of this endowment of what can only be seen as heaven-sent, seeded upon the humble fertility of earth.

     Thank you so much for visiting with Fred and I today. Please make a regular habit of dropping by……to see what we uncovered in the Muskoka less travelled.