Day 199: Outside my window and just as the sky begins to lighten, I hear the sound of Ma Nature's alarm clock: "Cheery-up, cheery-up, cheery-up, TWEET!" repeated with the insistence of a dripping faucet. It's those robins again, the "early birds" of legend, better than roosters for announcing that a new day is about to begin. I'm ahead of their game, already out of bed and going about my morning routine, an inveterate early riser. I think better in the mornings, and today, I'm thinking about who gets those goofy robins out of bed. Why, it's Wakerobin, of course!
Better known in the Pacific Northwest as Trillium (Trillium ovatum), this much-loved member of the lily family also goes by the common name of Wakerobin, an appellation which surely came about because of the coincidence of its appearance with the first spring songs of our old friend, the American Robin. If you see Trilliums, listen for the first robins of the season; if you hear a robin, start looking for Trilliums in the forest, but do not pick them and do not try to transplant them to your garden! For all its abundance, the Trillium is an exceptionally delicate plant and individuals can easily be destroyed by a careless footfall.
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