Daily Archives: July 17, 2018

Wood Lily

We went refrigerator shopping in Sanford yesterday morning and drove past the Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, which reminded me that the Wood Lilies might be in bloom. It is getting on for that time of year. I checked by Smugmug albums from last year to see when I had photographed them…July 17…and the weather app for yesterday and today. Rain in forecast for most of today, so I got on my eBike and rode out to the Plains yesterday afternoon, despite the heavy overcast overhead. It has been a dry summer. We desperately need the rain today, so I hope it does come. I rode out from under the cloud shadow by the time I got to the plains. The Wood Lilies are in bloom, but the dryness has made this year’s crop much more sparse, and the plants themselves are, surprisingly, much taller. Last year most of the lilies were right down at ground level. This year I found none under 2 feet tall. Also, almost all the lilies I found in bloom were tucked up under other plants, in partial shade for some of the day, or in the full shade at the edge of the forest. There is nothing that quite matches the color of the Wood Lily. If the bloom were not so brief, and the plants not so particular in their habitat, the Wood Lily would have been domesticated long ago as an ornamental. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with Program shift for greater depth of field. 1/320th @ f8 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr.