Erythronium time

The lemony white Erythronium citrinum, citrus or cream fawn lily, is native to Oregon and northwest California.

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I've been sneaking in, protected by the adjoining forest, to a garden where a great gardener lived. Her house and garden were sold and stand now empty with a "For lease" sign in front; later, the place will be demolished and built over. After a late November plant rescue when thousands of rare specimens were lifted up and sold for charity, the garden looks like it had an organ transplant.

*The beautiful, innocent looking Erythronium oregonum, also known as the giant fawn lily, has pearly white tepals with yellow bases.
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Still, hundreds of bulbs and deciduous perennials emerge from the fertile soil, peeking up their heads to a scary new reality. I have been adopting some of them, trying to give a new home in my garden for at least a few, before the bulldozers arrive and the inevitable lawn turf will be rolled over.

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Erythronium revolutum, the pink or coast fawn lily, is native to the west coast of North America, from California to British Columbia.

Today morning, I dug up some Erythroniums and carried them carefully to my garden and found them a shady spot under three large Korean dogwoods. With pictures of the abandoned, battered but still enchanting garden in my mind, I couldn't stop thinking of the all those years of love, enthusiasm, knowledge and hard work that went into creating it. And now, there's only me, carrying my camera and my spade, picking up the leftovers.

Erythronium tuolumnense, the Tuolumn fawn lily from the Sierra Nevada foothills in California.