"'Trilliums and lying in green grass' is the title for your book" was said in one of those dreams. I could maybe see that as the title for a book of poetry but romance-- not so much. It made a good title for a blog, except what did it mean-- if anything?
I remember being a small child and walking with my parents on the old wagon roads that led to the back of our farm in the foothills of the Cascades. In the spring, there would be fields of beautiful trilliums in the logged off areas. The rule was enjoy but don't pick because picking them destroys them and there will never be another growing in that spot.
Sounds like parental overkill, because after a little research, I learned it doesn't actually kill a trillium to pick it but it does set it back and damage it for years to come as the plant stores needed energy through its leaves. Parental mythology or not, it made its point. I have never picked a trillium.
They come out white and turn darker and darker pink until they are burgundy just before they begin to shrivel up. Ants spread their seed. At maturity, the base and core of the trillium ovary turns soft and spongy. Their seeds have a fleshy organ that attracts ants. The ants extract the seeds from the decaying ovary after they take it to their nest, where they eat that fleshy organ and put the seeds in their garbage, where they germinate in a rich growing medium.
So what could Trilliums and Lying in Green Grass possibly mean as a book title? Both were part of my life as a child. I did a lot of lying in green grass back in those days and saw a lot of trilliums. Should I ever write a memoir (unlikely) it'd make a good title.
Possibly the words together mean to not hold life too tightly, not to try to take away things that are beautiful from their natural setting as it won't work? Both have to be done out in nature as it is only when outside that you can lie in grass.
I think the title is more for a book of poetry than one of romance although there is the attraction of the ant to the plant as a way to reproduce... that's sort of like romance... right?
In this case, all it is is an excuse to use these lovely photos of Coast Range trilliums from this spring. I didn't know until reading up on it that trilliums are a genus of about 40-50 species of spring ephemeral perennials native to the temperate regions of North America and Asia.
We saw these for the first time on a recent hike in the Coast Range. It is similar but blooms when the other trilliums are already turning pink. There are spots on the leaves that make it seem like a sort of hosta and the white of its petals reminded me of gardenias with their waxy quality.
