Trillium Woods Provincial Park

If you live in Ontario, it is clear why the trillium is the provincial flower; these abound everywhere in the spring. The key is timing. For spring flowers so much depends on the weather; was the winter long, or the spring warm? Generally mid-May is when trilliums are blooming, although they could start in the final weeks of April or wait until the end of May.

We had timed our visit to this park perfectly. The trilliums were in full beauty and this park is also filled with diseased trilliums.

That statement sounded like it should be tragic and ugly, but it really isn't. It is the first time we have ever seen green trilliums. Because of a mycoplasma infection, the typical white trillium can have highlights of green or become fully green. This was a complete surprise for us and it caused us to start searching for the mis-coloured flowers. We may have seen a few of the normal variation of red, plenty of white, and so many green and green-striped. There had to be ten thousand or more trilliums in this small park.  It is no wonder why they set this place aside as a park for all to view.

The path around the park was circular and easy to walk. The park itself is not very large and I suspect it could be completed in ten minutes if we ignored everything. We spent over an hour in there trying to find as much as we could. 

There was one other creature that was also trying to find as much as it could. A racoon stumbled upon a hearty bunch of grubs and it was in no way willing to give them up. It saw us and continued to dig up the grubs, rub the dirt off of them, and dig for another while keeping an eye on us. I was a bit nervous. An animal doing things that are out of the ordinary is one for concern. Ordinarily a racoon would have scampered away when it saw us and this one did not. I had seriously considered turning around and taking the long way back to the car. Charlene had no intention of this. She started talking to the old racoon as she walked past it. It watched her and then I figured I would have to try as well. It was very content with its treasure of white grubs and was unphased by my approach. 

This place is filled with natural beauty and even though it is an infection of a cellular level for these plants, it does offer a unique experience for someone that likes spring flowers.

Located south of Highway 401 near Woodstock Ontario.  Google Maps search: Trillium Woods Provincial Park.