A great irony is that trout lilies are there at all. The flowers, so named because their leaves look like a trout’s skin, are generally uncommon in southwest Georgia. They mostly prefer North Georgia‘s mountains and Piedmont. A theory is that they migrated southward from the mountains tens of thousands of years ago during the Ice Age. When the Ice Age ended, the lilies were left in spots in southwest Georgia and north Florida.
Trout lilies belong to a wildflower group known as spring ephemerals, which bloom before trees leaf out and shade the forest floor. So, by May, the lilies will be gone, with hardly a sign that they were there at all.
The 140-acre Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve, owned by Grady County and managed by volunteers, once was slated for a housing development but was saved in 2009 through the work and contributions of many individuals and organizations.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be full on Thursday — the “Windy Moon,” as the Cherokee people called it. Saturn is low in the east a few hours before sunrise. Jupiter and Mars rise in the east just after midnight.