Trout Lily Season!

Every season I seem to proclaim "THIS is my favorite season because _____ (I can ski/I love the smell of autumn leaves/the grass is so GREEN, etc.).  However, right now, spring is my favorite season because I love the emergence of the wildflowers.  I do not exaggerate when I state the flowers pop up overnight.  The beauty that has caught my eye this week is the Trout Lily.

In this region, the Trout Lily is one of the first bits of green to emerge in the forest.  Named both for the timing of its bloom (trout season = mid-April) and its coloring, the trout lily is a very distinctive forest floor wildflower.  Popping out in large patches amongst the bases of trees, the lily leaves replicate the mottled sides of our state fish, the brook trout.

 The Trout lily's common name is the Dogtooth Violet due to its tooth-shaped bulb underground.  NOTE:  this plant is not a violet, so the name can be confusing.  It loves lots of early spring sunshine, which it easily gets because it pokes out from the leaf litter way before there is a leaf canopy in the trees above.  Look carefully at the picture above and you will notice the red flowers from the maples that have dropped to the forest floor.  These lilies arrive quite a while before the leaves from the trees can block out the sun.

This little wildflower is a perennial, meaning it grows back each year on its own, only reaching perhaps 6" in height.  The happy little fish-shaped leaves, waving in the cool spring breezes, hardy through our harsh and hopeful Erie season, remind me so much of their namesake, the brook trout, swimming energetically through the cold spring waters of our local streams.

BUT, my favorite is the joyful little faces of the sunny yellow flowers peeking out through last year's leaf litter, reminding viewers that the season really is changing.