Pink Trilliums don't seem to be as common as the white ones, but thanks to Paulette Aho, we're getting a good look at them. She said she photographed these Trilliums, in their pink finery, on the Bill Nicholls Trail, near the Firesteel trestles. They're near the end of their blooming cycle, but as Paulette pointed out, they're still pretty in their various shades of pink.

Paulette not only looked to the ground, she was also keeping an eye on the sky and spotted the thunderheads in the last two photos, peeking out from the trees along the skyline. They sure are puffy and white against the brilliant blue of the sky!

Today's photos are great reminders to us all, to open our eyes to the world around us UP North here. Especially for those of us that live here in the U.P., we often times go about our day not really noticing the little things like pink trilliums or interesting clouds, since we see them every day. Take time to smell the Trilliums folks!

Good Monday morning Past Camers!

I'm sure someone can set me straight if i have this wrong, but i think the white trilliums turn pink as they age. At least some near us do that.

Hi
JBuck, that's what I have heard as well. I have gone back to the same spot a couple of weeks later and seen a change from all white trilliums to a mix of white and pink, with more pink ones in the mix. Of course another explanation is that the pink ones are a slightly different species that bloom a little later. Any botonists out there please weigh in.

White or pink, I love Trilliums! I have them in my
wild/native flower garden.

Nice pictures, I hope Paulette got home before the clouds made it rain on her adventure. When I was a youngster trilliums grew across the road from where I lived. I don't recall any pink ones but admittedly I am drawing on an aging and less than perfect memory.

Crisp and fresh pix! Now I think I'll listen to some Pink Floyd and become comfortably numb. :-O

There are red ones too. All trilliums are beautiful in my book.
The trillium is the provincial flower of Ontario, and it's a dandy one.

I LOVE the pink trilliums. Great pics as they are
not always easy to find.

Nice pics.
Good choice of tunes, Alex!

I don't think I've seen pink trilliums before.

Here's a possible explanation for the pink:

Dr. Nancy Dengler, a botanist in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto, told me that when plants are under stress, they often produce reddish-purple pigments called anthocyanins.

Many other plants, however, make anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants, in response to the stresses of cold or drought and during the senescence (aging) of tissues. The pinkish colour plants develop as they make these pigments may be just a side effect, with their real purpose being to help protect tissues as the plants “work to recover the nutrients in the petals that they are ‘throwing away,’” Dengler said.

For the trillium, then, pink petals are the equivalent of metabolic business as usual. For the observer lucky enough to see a trillium with pink petals in the forest? Nothing short of a marvel.

JBuck:
Your explanation sounds correct. I have seen this same phenomenon in my own garden. We have some snowball bushes in the back yard that start out with brilliant white flowers, then as they grow older they gradually become pinkish before they whither and fall off..

I love any kind of flower pictures and cloud
pictures!! Thanks!