Little Trilliums

[mark smyth]

There was a pot of Trilliums at last year's Dublin show with patterned leaves like those

[Paul T]

John,

The flower looks just FINE to me, and Oh, those leaves!!    Beautiful!!  Hopefully Michael J. will post pics of his again as well, as I seem to recall previous years he had some of the most wonderful rivales too.  Before that I'd never realised there were marked leaved varieties, and of course I covet them dearly now!! 

[John Forrest]

Just in flower now are T. nivale,. This picture is a large flower with a good leaf selected from the many that I have grown from seed. The T. rivale Darkest is my own selection and I posted a picture recently a picture from a previous year. I have put 2 pictures to show the variation of flowers on the same plant.

[Paul T]

Very nice markings on your darkest rivale.  Very nice indeed!!

[alpines]

I came to Kentucky to see Trillium nivale at its best.
Should have gone to Blackpool !!!!!!
For those who have never seen John's trilliums on the showbench, it's worth any effort to visit an alpine show in the UK in Spring.
Alan

[Rodger Whitlock]

I grow Trillium hibbersonii, T. nivale and T. rivale in pots for many years. I should like to try them also outdoors. Can anybody tell me his experience with growing these plants in an open garden? Are they frost hardy and do they withstand winter wet weather without cover?

I expect they are all frost hardy, but T. nivale, being native to the eastern USA, may not appreciate a wet winter. The eastern USA has a continental climate rather like that of eastern Asia, with hot wet summers and fairly cold dry winters. That said, my own T. nivale have survived without protection from winter wet when I have forgotten to cover the coldframe I keep my pots in.

T. nivale is susceptible to slug damage, but to my knowledge neither T. hibbersoni nor T. rivale have this problem. Because our local soils tend to be quite acid, I give T. nivale a little lime in its pot from time to time.

These are all quite small plants and to make a contribution to the garden picture you must grow them in substantial drifts. I am fortunate in having a form of T. rivale that sets enormous amounts of fertile seed that germinates freely, to the point that the plant is nearly weedy. I am gradually spreading extraneous seedlings around my garden, which is becoming more beautiful in consequence. While it grows best in a site that remains slightly moist in summer, it manages to grow and flower even in the dry impoverished soil under lodgepole pines.

Some wild-origin plants of T. rivale multiply well vegetatively, others not so freely. Be alert for the development of multiple growing points, and if these occur, lift the rhizome in the spring and take off any rooted offsets, replanting both parent and children without delay. In my experience young trilliums reach flowering size much faster in the ground than in a pot. I suspect that their root systems are more extensive than generally recognized, also that they may be somewhat sensitive to soil warming in pots exposed to sunlight.

As for T. hibbersonii, I have been told on good authority that you should not give this plant any fertilizer; doing so may kill it. My informant related two instances he knows of first-hand where this happened. My own specimens are still very young and I do not have any significant first-hand experience to relate.

[rob krejzl]

Rodger,

Perhaps a signature line indicating your BC Canada origin for those of us who don't recognise you from other lists?

[Maggi Young]

RW- a  warm welcome to you.... it seems you are perhaps,  Rodger? Please introduce yourself a little... these disembodied initials are a tad "standoffish", as we say here!!

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

If there is a better topic to post these in, please feel free to move it and any subsequent responses to the relevent thread.....

These are some of the Trillium rivale that I saw in Otto's garden, where they have naturalised and seem to be appearing wherever they please (some things are a real chore to deal with, aren't they?  ).  So many of his steps in the garden seemed to sprout a little rivale in the cracks.  Most of the ones he thought were pretty average were all better than any that I have in my own garden..... but it was nice to be able to find him one that he hadn't seen before, and transplant it to somewhere in the garden where he could see it easily.  Hopefully that pink with the white stripe survived the move, Otto?

The last pics are of a rivale from another garden we visited.... this one has dark purple leaves when it emerges, which then fade out to green.  Impressive strong pink flowers too.  This one I covet even more than all the lovely pinks in Otto's garden, which is saying something given how much I want some like his good strong pinks.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Paul Tyerman's pictures of T. rivale exemplify the variation you see in this species. On reflection, I would hazard the opinion that it is the most variable of the trillium species in regard to flower form and coloration.

Some of you may be familiar with (or have heard whispered in the dark) the name "Vern Ahier" associated with T. rivale. It took me many years to acquire an authentic specimen of this plant, but I am now able to say that it falls within the normal range of variation of the species. (PS: However, it is distinctive.) It is characterized by broad, slightly overlapping petals forming a nearly hemispherical bowl shape, white with red speckling that is slightly denser toward the center of the flower.

The individual petals are slightly pointed.

I believe that in the literature you will find this name misspelled as "Verne" and "Ahiers". It has been grown for many years here in Victoria, BC, as one of those special plants passed hand to hand (and only into the hands of those who have demonstrated their high horticultural standing). I do not know if the name "Vern Ahier" has been published in a way that qualifies it as a formal cultivar name, but as this clone originated as a seedling grown by Vern Ahier, it would be presumptuous to give it any other name.

Some of the specimens depicted by Paul Tyerman come close in various ways to 'Vern Ahier', but none are identical.

For many years, the origin of this plant was something of a mystery, Vern Ahier himself having died about 1980. Various stories were told such as "it was found in an old farmyard in Saanich", but the story that best fits the facts is that it was simply an outstanding seedling among a larger batch of seedlings.

In my experience, it multiplies well vegetatively, and I have sedulously (even ruthlessly) lifted and divided my own specimens in order to multiply their numbers.

Diane Whitehead has been active in Victoria rock gardening circles much longer than me and knew Vern Ahier; pehaps she can add a few words to fill in this skimpy account of mine.

Regrettably, my only pictures of this plant are out of focus and not suitable for posting. Perhaps better luck next year!

[Diane Whitehead]

I'm pretty sure I had a photo that I put on the VIRAGS website
before I redid it.  A quick look at my photos was unsuccessful.
I'm off in a few days to see Western Australia's wildflowers, so
I'll do another search when I return mid-November.

[Maggi Young]

I would certainly concur with the notion that Trillium rivale is the most variable of the family .....which make growing it from seed all the more fun, eh?

Diane.... have a wonderful trip !

[Rodger Whitlock]

A previous posting fo mine touched on the variability of T. rivale as regards flower coloration and form, but it varies in other ways too.

Some forms have definite markings on the leaves; not anything that would make you throw away, say, a choice cyclamen, but attractive nonetheless, closely similar to the white line down the leaves of Galanthus reginae-olgae.

A more important type of variability is in the tendency of T. rivale to multiply vegetatively. I have several plants  of wild origin traceable to a single site in Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains. One of them has multiplied like mad (as it's informally put), the others are much more lackadaisical in this respect.

The 'Vern Ahier' clone is a pretty good multiplier itself.

If you have a plant of T. rivale of special merit that has formed a clump, in the spring lift the clump and pull off all the secondary growing points that have their own roots, even if this leaves the main rhizome without any growing point at all. It will form new shoots in time. Replant all pieces immediately, water in well, and just wait. The way some forms multiply I'm pretty sure you could fill a garden with them!

It's probably best to only divide in this way every second year or so, but annual division will work.

While I'm at it, I should mention that intensive division is something I have practiced for years. My sense of the situation is that many gardeners are not aware of this easy method of propagation; they bring home a new plant in its pot, plant it out, and that's the end of it. I have found in many cases that on inspection, a new plant will prove to have multiple growing points and most of these will establish if divided off and planted out without delay.

This is true even of some plants notorious for disliking root disturbance. Hacquetia epipactis is such a plant; by sheer chance I discovered that it pushes out new roots in mid summer (say late June or early July) and if ruthlessly divided at that time, every growing point will establish.

Friends who go on nursery crawls with me are either horrified or amused to see me carefully looking over a flat of plants for the one with the most growing points. I have the last laugh; an expensive plant with 10 growing points is a ten-times better bargain than a specimen with only one growing point.

Those with strong urges to tidiness may prefer to use a sharp knife to perform the surgery, but I prefer the Brazilian miracle healer technique of using my fingers. A dab of sulphur on the freshly wounded surfaces will help prevent fungal rots from getting entrance if that appears to be a risk.

[gote]

For some reason I missed this thread when it was hot.
My experience is that T rivale is less wither hardy than the others.
It has never survivrd a single winter in my place.
Göte

[mark smyth]

Susan Tindall is selling rivale x ovatum hybrids