First Trillium

It is now official, for me at least, now that the first trillium has been spotted. I declare that it is now spring on the farm.
I had been down hill earlier in the day to visit a friend who lives about 500 feet above sea level, and saw a bright, white trillium blooming at the edge of their flower bed. As soon as I got home, I headed out to see if we had any blooming.
According to Wikipedia,

Conservation

Trillium grandiflorum (great white trillium)

Picking parts off a trillium plant can kill it even if the rhizome is left undisturbed.^[14] Some species of trillium are listed as threatened or endangered and collecting these species may be illegal. Laws in some jurisdictions may restrict the commercial exploitation of trilliums and prohibit collection without the landowner’s permission. In the US states of Michigan^[14] and Minnesota^[15] it is illegal to pick trilliums. In New York it is illegal to pick the red trillium.^[16]
In 2009, a Private Members Bill was proposed in the Ontario legislature that would have made it illegal to in any way injure the common Trillium grandiflorum (white trillium) in the province (with some exceptions), however the bill was never passed.^[17]

Here at the farm it is the white trillium that is native and grows in the woods during the spring although they don’t grow as big as the ones down in the valley. The white blossoms turn pink as they age while the green leaves can continue to get larger after the blossoms have fallen off. Leaves tinged with a red hue can be spotted well into the heat of the summer if they have some tall trees around to keep them from the brutal sun.