Trillium 2011

WimB wrote:

I take it there will be a lot more posts of this very nice plants from the people in N-America since it's a native to your continent, but anyhow: the first Trillium in flower in my garden.

Thanks for starting this Wim; we have lots more weeks before we begin to see the likes of Trillium sessile or other trillium in much of "hardy North America".  Your season is so much more advanced than ours.

James, your bronze foliage clone of Trillium nivale also has much narrower leaves than the norm, too.

These are wild ones in situ in southeast Minnesota, several springs ago.

James wrote:

Here are pictures of my Trillium "Volcano" and Trillium nivale bronze foliage clone. These are the only ones flowering right now but I have many others that will be flowering over the next few days and weeks. Spring is in full bloom here and Anemone nemorosa are all starting to flower now.

James, is "Volcano" an official cultivar name? And what species is it a selection of, Trillium kurabayashii?  It's really a bright and rich red, the color stands out well.

James, might your Trillium with slender bronze foliage actually be T. pusillum; googling I found lots of photos of T. pusillum that look similar to your plant, including the bronzy leaf tone on some forms.

I love those plants but I haven't had much luck with Trilliums so far. Have tried several but they never "take off" :( Don't know what the problem is though...

Have to try some more from seed, maybe seedlings are easier to establish if not eaten by slugs. Is it better using fresh than stored seed?

James wrote:

Fresh seed is best when starting trillium. :)

I thought so!

Wonderful trilliums, Wim!

In Minnesota, native Trillium nivale begins blooming before any other wild spring ephemeral is up at all, let alone blooming or even in bud.  Even the Hepatica is still asleep.  The only exception might be our wild Pulsatilla patens, which would just be emerging.  As you would expect because the the cold temps, Trillium nivale is in bloom for a very long time, and ends about the same time as when the native Hepatica acutiloba bloom ends.

Dave, nice stuff there.  And that screenhouse is a nice touch to keep rodents out of your pots, a prevent birds from stealing the labels!

Dave, I like your garden! What a place to explore ;D ;D

Hoy....Here's a link to Bill Cullina's instruction on growing Trillium from seed. Good luck!
http://www.williamcullina.com/files/Download/Trillium%20Seed%20Propagati...

AmyO wrote:

Hoy....Here's a link to Bill Cullina's instruction on growing Trillium from seed. Good luck!
http://www.williamcullina.com/files/Download/Trillium%20Seed%20Propagati...

Thanks Amy. Now the next step is to obtain some seed!

Dave, Are you allowed to walk in the protected bushland?

Seems to be a nice place to live, Dave!

I have never dared to split slow-growing species like Trillium! Haven't had much to split either. . . .

Toole wrote:

Hoy wrote:

I have never dared to split slow-growing species like Trillium! Haven't had much to split either. . . .

Hoy
A good source of Trillium seed is the New Zealand Trillium Group --you don't have to be a donor to request seed although donors obviously have first choice.
Subs are only NZ $15 --a couple of newsletters each year.

Contact details are ----    [email protected]

Cheers Dave.

A good idea! Thanks Dave.

I forgot about this Trillium 2011 topic and I put some trillium photos amid other general topics :P

One of my favorite Trillium species is T. catesbaei.  While it has nodding flowers, the foliage is smallish and narrow enough to not interfere with seeing the blooms, even from above.  I have them is various colors, from a few near white ones, through shades of pink, to deep rose ones. Shown is one of the deep color forms.

Two more views of T. catesbaei from further back, to see the backdrop of Saruma henryi with perky yellow flowers.

Trillium vaseyi is much later flowering than many trillium, in this view, the flowers are at a rare stage for a day or so, where the buds start opening to have a cup shape, but they will shortly fold tightly backwards wrapping around the calyx lobes to form a flat triangle shape, unique!  Above and to the left, is the self-sown plant from T. vaseyi that is huge, with leaves twice the size, and flowering later, which I suspected of being a hybrid, but all who saw photos I posted last year assured me it was simply a T. vaseyi variant.  Also seen (on the right) is two stems of T. recurvatum, which have been in flower for a couple weeks.

Mark, I am still striving to grow Trilliums! And now you allure me to make new efforts. I have also tried Saruma several times, and the winter is no problem, but guess what is!

cohan wrote:

I sowed some Saruma  couple of years ago.. nothing came up, I'll have to try again...
As for Trilliums, I think I see some action finally in a pot sown in fall '09! Those will be my first T's.... need to get more seed...lol

Saruma makes a lot of seed here, with self-sown seedlings occasionally popping up.  I'll try to collect some seed later on when it's ready and I'm glad to share some.  I've never deliberately sown the seed, so not familiar with what the requirements are for germination.

Some Trillium photos from today, yet another overcast cool weather day.

Trillium grandiflorum 'Multiplex' reaching the late anthesis pink-tinged stage.  Just beyond and above it, is T. rugelii.

Trillium rugelii, one of the nodding trillium types, in the the left photo one gets a hint that there might be flower beneath the leaves, and in the right-hand photo, the leaves lifted to reveal the flowers... large size as nodding trillium species go, and with a large central purple ovary and stamen mass.

The unique flower disposition on Trillium vaseyi, with the folded back petals... fascinating.  In the center photo you can see T. recurvatum on the right.

A small grouping of Trillium foetidissimum, with a form of Arisaema triphyllum beyond.  The trillium blooms are indeed lightly foetid smelling, but only at very close hand with one's nose stuck into the flower... an attractive little Trillium only about 5-6" tall.

Mark, I am thinking of terminating my kitchen garden to grow trilliums ;D

cohan wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Mark, I am thinking of terminating my kitchen garden to grow trilliums ;D

With Ducks? ;)

Yes, the whole Duck family with uncle Scrooge in front:
Slugwatching!

cohan wrote:

Oddly, I seem to have slugs but not slug damage.. I can only suppose that I have enough natural predators to keep them in check..

I have predators too, some slug-egg-eating beetles and birds to name some, but we have many different species of slugs and snails and some are worse than other. The humid climate here make the slugs and snails active almost every day and night.

Beautiful form and color on that one Dave, I LIKE IT!

Love all the interesting foliage on trilliums, too.  Nice plant, Dave!

"suggest watching this space."
Deffinitely!

Toole wrote:

Also note the different colour of the sepals --in this case they are green with a brown stripe along each edge ....

Cheers Dave.

Sometimes I will look at the photo before I read the accompanying post, and I notice that brown penciling right away.  Very fetching!

That one is especially scrumptious, Dave!  Does the foliage hold its colors?

Congratulations on your Trillium nivale.  It looks like they might already be suffering from heat, unless that flower is already weeks old.  Here in Minnesota the wild plants bloom while there is still old snow at least in the low places, and well before the last spring snows (early to mid March).

Dave, I have commented on Trillium chloropetalum before, but I must comment again that I find that species worth growing just for the rounded fullness of the foliage alone.  I'll add it to my list of species to be on the look out for.

Recently ripening were two seed pods on my extra super-duper robust Trillium vaseyi, the pods at the perfect level of ripeness, bursting open but not yet shed... I squeezed the gooey contents directly into a spot in the garden; only 6-7 more years to go ;)  Oddly enough, this is the only species that set any seed this year, most unusual to see such paucity of trillium seed.

Don't you just love the "triangulariness" of Trillium vaseyi blooms when the segments fold tightly backwards behind themselves. :D

My trillium seed would have been kiped by ants long before the bursting stage.  But in fact, none of my seven trilliums produced seed this season.  With it being so wet in spring and early summer, pollination was poor on many plants.