Painted Trillium

Trillium undulatum

Painted lady, late riser, you rush out of the ground, get pollinated on the fly sometimes before your petals fully open, so that within one day after emergence they are already turning translucent, your pink makeup fading as the light-flooded forest dims to leaf-out. But that’s your true element, isn’t it? The shade. Even unpollinated you are wavy, vague around the edges, ready to let go of all color & get the opposite of a tan. Only a well-timed cold snap can hold your snow.