Trillium 2008

[Diane Whitehead]

My first trillium in bloom, T. ovatum maculosum from near
Gualala in Northern California, along the coast north of San Francisco.
I was given tiny seedlings about 2002, and this is their first flowering.

The parent plant in my friend's Victoria garden keeps California time
every year, and so do these seedlings.

The ovatum native to my property has not emerged yet.

(I was playing around with photographing using a mirror to show the
other side of a flower - I have three seedlings flowering.)

[Maggi Young]

Diane, clever idea to have the mirror for all round view... will try that.
Lovely plants. 
We have tried  T. ovatum maculosum from seed but got no germination. Very sad... so if anyone out there is likely to have seed this coming year.... there's a BD here who would be very pleased to have some 

[Paul T]

Diane,

Lovely spotting on the leaves.  Not seen the likes of them before.  Beautiful!!

[mark smyth]

Here are some very close shots of some of my T. rivale. No 4 is a selection by Michael Campbell. I could be wrong. The group shot is a very prolific group that live in one of my troughs that is in full shade except for a couple of hours first thing in the morning. As they never open I assume they need sun on their backs in order to do so

I bought some Trillium pusillum from Kevock 2 or 3 years ago. They came up first year and then didnt appear. I was clearing pots this week and was very surprised to find the pot with them flowering nicely. I'm happy with just labelling them T. pusillium but would anyone want to guess what ssp they might be?

[Lesley Cox]

Probably not ssp. ozarkanum as it has undulating , or even wiggly, edges.

I see we now have a spellcheck. Great, but it needs to have an "add" feature. At present it doesn't recognize "ssp" for subspecies.

[Paul T]

Mark,

That first pic of the pink in amazing.  Such solid colouration!!  Wow!!  I've probably seen them here before but if so I'd forgotten that there could be that strong a pink.  It looks so substantial!!  Absolutely beautiful!! 

[mark smyth]

Just realised you two are referring to me.

Paul, can I send you some seeds? I have lots of colours from almost pure white to dark pink. Another now open is shown below

[mark smyth]

Here's another almost pure pink T. rivale. If I had the time I would like to lift and keep all the similar couloured rivales together.

When can I lift Trilliums?

Also shown here is T. ovatum 'Joe elliott' growing about the same height as T. rivale. I'll measure it tomorrow for those who are interested.

[Lesley Cox]

The small ovatum looks pretty much like T. hibbersonii. You can lift trilliums when dormant (mid summer, as they come into growth very quickly, or many would recommend lifting when well into new growth, say mid autumn. Others say after flowerimg. In fact you can lift them just about any time though in flower is not recommended. Take a decent wad of soil with them if just transferring. Be careful of the roots if dividing.

[mark smyth]

'Joe Elliott' is very tall compared to other hibbersonii I have seen. Just gone out with the measuring tape. Regular hibbersonii is 2.5cm and 'Joe Elliott' is 6cm. 'Joe' is now very dark pink. Can others measure their hibbersonii?

If a group of hibbersonii are four petalled year after year does this mean they can be selected and named?

[Diane Whitehead]

I measured the most robust stem of my clump of hibbersonii.  From the
ground to where the flower begins is 11 cm.

[mark smyth]

Now that is tall.

Flowering in Margaret Glynn's garden today included. Not enough photos taken today because of the blowing wind

T. ovatum hibbersonii
T. ovatum hibbersonii
T. ovatum hibbersonii
T. rivale - very delicate markings
T. rivale
T. rivale - always with ruffled petals
T. rivale

[Paul T]

Oh Mark!  That first group rivale photos is breathtaking.  What a difference climate and soil makes..... I've had a clump in for years now and I get barely 4 or 5 flowers...... in pots they do better at least, but nothing even remotely like that.  I can only hope for one day!!!!! 

[mark smyth]

 .. and look at the seedlings on either side at the front! Can these be lifted now to pot on or best lifted when past their best?

[Paul T]

Me?..... I'd be lifting them now while they're as small as possible I think.  Making sure to take as much soild around them as possible and putting them straight into wherever they're going without teasing them apart or anything.  Others may council against that I'd imagine, but I would be figuring that if you wait until they're past their best then you run the risk of missing them.  At least this way you can see where exactly you're dealing with and try to work a little way out from them for digging purposes.  T. rivale I find is extremely forgiving of most things.  The first couple of years the rhizomes are so small that if you waited until dormancy I'm not sure you'd find them?