I never had the jelly I'm not a jelly person to begin with, just had them cooked like an asparagus for the stalk and of course the flowers raw.

We get a late growing season, I live in the most northern metropolis in the world plus we had a late winter with snowfalls until late may. I think it's on the tail end of the season but there are still some. I don't actively look for them all the time but I come across them hiking and if I'm not on a national Park I pick them. Last year we found a large ziploc freezer bag full in one hike. They also grow in logging areas, where it's been recently logged of the trees you mentioned the next 2 years is morel abundant, also where there has been forest fires.