Dimpled Trout Lily – Native Plant of the Day 02/20/2024
Photo from 02/19/2014. Location: Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, Grady County, Ga.
More photos / info at the Erythronium umbilicatum detail page.
Dimpled Trout Lily – Erythronium umbilicatum
Trout Lily – Native Plant of the Day 03/20/2023
Photo from 03/25/2009. Location: The Pocket, Walker County, Ga.
More photos / info at the Erythronium americanum detail page.
Trout Lily; Dogtooth Violet – Erythronium americanum
This has been a VERY wet late winter, and cold the last several days. Today (Thursday, 03/07/2019) had a confluence of sunshine, warm temps (low 50’s), and the threat of more rain starting tomorrow, so I made a run down to The Pocket. Unfortunately a significant part of the Shirley Miller Trail, including the boardwalk extension and the trail from the end of the boardwalk to the falls, is closed. Many of the spring wildflowers (Dutchmen’s Breeches, Doll’s Eyes, Bishop’s Cap come to mind immediately) are found along that section, so I won’t know when they are blooming. That being said, I counted 14 species blooming in the area north of the parking lot, the boardwalk loop, and along the Pocket Loop Trail (the “horse trail” that leads to the camping area above the falls, not to be confused with the boardwalk loop on the Shirley Miller Trail.) I’m not sure if this latter area (Pocket Loop Trail) is officially closed or not. If not, I half expect it to happen, since the trail crosses the part area of the hillside which is slipping, causing trees to fall onto the boardwalk below.
The Shirley Miller Trail boardwalk extension is closed “indefinitely”
The warm weather has continued, along with a fair bit of rain. It’s been 10 days since my last trip to The Pocket (3/2), and I was expecting some significant changes in what was blooming. Some news – the Harbinger-of-Spring is almost gone. However, that’s not the only news… Wait for it…
Wood Poppy – Stylophorum diphyllum
Not just the Wood Poppy…
Today (3/16) was beautiful – clear skies and about 70 degrees by noon. The weather had been pretty warm for several days, with a lot of rain showers over those several days, so I was hopeful that things would have picked up a bit from my last report on 3/7. And had it! Of the 53 species on my current version of my wildflower checklist for The Pocket, we (my wife, a lovely homeschool group we met up with, and I) found 13 blooming right now.
Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis
For the rest of the story…
Dimpled Trout Lily, a native species, has been added to the USWildflowers database (03/05/2015.) Scientific name is Erythronium umbilicatum. Photo below was taken at the Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve in Grady County, GA on Feb 20, 2014. Go to the Dimpled Trout Lily detail page for more photos and information.
Yesterday (3/27) was one of the rare days this spring – mostly clear skies and warmer weather – into the 60’s. As a plus a couple of my grandkids wanted to join me, so a great time at The Pocket was guaranteed. Several of the “signature species” at The Pocket – Virginia Bluebell, Wood (Celandine) Poppy, Dutchman’s Breeches (or, as my grandson called them, “Upside Down Pants from Holland), Trout Lily are blooming right now. I’m developing a checklist to use so I won’t have to photograph or remember what all is blooming, and of the 51 species on my current version of the checklist, 25 are blooming right now.
Trailing Trillium – Trillium decumbens
For the rest of the story…
My wife and I were passing through Toccoa Falls, Georgia on Saturday, March 22, heading back home from Devil’s Fork State Park in South Carolina, and decided to stop in to see the namesake waterfalls. My sister had attended Toccoa Falls College in the 1960’s, and a friend of my daughter’s family from Papua New Guinea is attending there now, so we knew the waterfalls was on the campus of the college. We stopped at the guard’s gate for directions – straight down the road until we come to the gift shop in the Gate Cottage. Access to the falls is through the gift shop, paying a small fee – $2 for most adults, $1 each for those of us over the age of 60. A short walk of about 100 yards up a nice trail along Toccoa Creek brings you to a view of the 186′ waterfalls.
Toccoa Falls on the campus of Toccoa Falls College in Georgia
While the weather is keeping things slow, things are picking up at The Pocket. Several species have started blooming, and even more are “almost there.” Checking last year’s reports, we’re tracking pretty close to 3/10/2013. The big excitement for me today was finding that a few Dutchman’s Breeches have started blooming.
Dutchman’s Breeches – Dicentra cucullaria
Read on for a more complete update…
Wow! If you like Trout Lilies (what’s not to like about Trout Lilies?) then… Wow! Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve is home to the densest population of Trout Lilies in the world. Arrive there at peak bloom – usually early February, but with the cold late winter we’ve had in the southeast, mid-February this year – and you too will be amazed at the carpet of yellow blossoms in a 40 acre patch of forest along the slopes down to Wolf Creek in Grady County, Georgia.
Massive display of Dimpled Trout Lily – Erythronium umbilicatum – at Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve
But there’s more…