Glacier lilies are the first wildflower to offer prolific displays
along the base of the mountains on the west side of the Continental Divide
where my cabin is found. When I was
there four days ago, I saw none in bloom.
Yesterday, I saw thousands.
Yellow, the color of the day.
Glacier lilies thrive only during the coolest weeks of
spring. These flowers require cold. The seeds of glacier lilies must endure at
least one hundred days of cold before they can successfully germinate.
Mature glacier lilies often emerge at the feet of melting
snowbanks—long before any other shrub or flower or grass has even begun to stretch
and yawn, coming awake after a long winter.
The corm (bulb) of a glacier lily grows deep in the ground. The corms are starchy white and can be eaten uncooked. I unearthed a handful of them a couple years
ago and found them to taste exactly the same as raw jicama (Mexican potato).
Delicious, in a single word.
But, I prefer to leave the lilies undisturbed. I want them to flourish and display, assuring
me spring is come official.
Posted today are a couple of photographs I captured with my
smarter-than-me-phone.
—Mitchell Hegman
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