Trillium 2011

[ashley]

Trillium chloropetalum from exchange seed
Trillium kurabayashii seedlings beginning to show foliage variation in their second year

[christian pfalz]

hello,
today in flower trillium ?

cheers
chris

[Janis Ruksans]

With me the first to flower (in greenhouse) is Trillium ovatum. This plant travelled very long way from New Zealand, from nursery of Mr. S. Preston specialized in Trillium as cut flower, exporting them to USA and famous for large collection of Trilliums and Alliums. I got them in 2008 and now they accomodated to season change. Mr. Preston kindly sent me a lot of seeds, inclusive hybrids (started to germinate this spring) and very good rootstocks.
Janis

[daveyp1970]

Trillium chloropetalum from exchange seed
Trillium kurabayashii seedlings beginning to show foliage variation in their second year

your seedlings are fantastic Ashley

[annew]

However can trilliums be used as cut flowers? I would think it would kill the plant.

[t00lie]

Very nice Ashley,Janis ,Chris.

However can trilliums be used as cut flowers? I would think it would kill the plant.

Hello Anne

The details of Stewart Preston's successful trillium cut flower experience is recorded on the Trillium L archives ,(sorry can't give you the link as my computer can't find the server to access the info).

If memory serves me correctly not all the flowering stems on each plant were cut.....

Cheers Dave
 

[annew]

Thanks, Dave. It would be a while until mine were big enough for that treatment!

[gote]

However can trilliums be used as cut flowers? I would think it would kill the plant.

This is a common myth based on a misinterpretation of observations..
Trilliums are extremely adapted to deciduous woodland conditions. If you cut back a "normal" perennial it will grow back the same year. This does not make sense for a Trillium. A second growth would be a complete loss because the trees at that time will rob it of light and water. For that reason there is a mechanism that prevents buds from starting unless it has been subject to a cool period. Thus: If you cut a Trillium for flower it will not appear until next spring  - maybe weakened but alive. This also works for seedlings. First year there will only be a cotyledon. Some other woodlanders like woodland Corydalis behave in a similar way.
Cheers
Göte
   

[Lesley Cox]

Stewart was harvesting from plants with dozens of stems in flower Anne. I don't think it's happening now as the 9/11 thing in the States killed the cut flower trade with flights cancelled and everything from your suitcase to your handkerchief being examined for bombs and anthrax.

There was also resistence from the Trillium growers in the USA who were outraged that THEIR plants were being traded in such a way, Trillium being, apparently, sacred to a small group of dedicated growers. Stewart's flowers were superb, treated in such a way as to be long lasting, well packed and if not for the terrorist attacks, would have been a successful venture. Such is life.

[jshields]

The old Trillium-L list on Surfnet was closed on January 1, 2011.  Try here for the new list:
http://mailman.science.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/trillium-l

My Trillium nivale bloomed about a month ago, and therefore somewhat later than normal.  I did not check the last couple of days, but no new Trillium flowers were open before then.  The first to come up were Trillium sessile, native to southern Indiana but transplanted to my garden here in central Indiana.  A few T. cuneatum are up, but not all of them.  Most came from North Carolina outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I think it's time I checked up on the Trillium beds again.

Jim

[bulborum]

Here now in flower Trillium kurabayashii

Roland

[t00lie]

The old Trillium-L list on Surfnet was closed on January 1, 2011.  Try here for the new list:
http://mailman.science.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/trillium-

Jim

Thanks Jim.

Cheers Dave.

[Knud]

The first trillium to bloom here is always this little gem, Trillium ovatum hibbersonii.  I had it in a trough for about five years, in a very peaty soil. There it seeded quite well, and the patch became very dense. Last year I "dismantled" that trough and set the hibbersonii "free" in various places in the garden, and some in pots. They now all seem to be on their way back up, includding the ones in pots. It will be interesting to see if they seed as freely in their new positions.

The last picture is of one of the first generation seedlings I got from the original plant; interestingly it had sets of four leaves rather than the usual three. I discussed this with Ian Young a few years back, and he said it was not an uncommon occurance for T. o. hibbersonii. One winter this one, and most of its large siblings in the trough disappeared, luckily the younger ones made it through.

Knud

[mark smyth]

I think Michael said he had lost many Trilliums over the winter. Count me in also. My pure white T. rivale are down to three, hibbersonii are down to two, Purple Heart is two, grandiflorum only 3, Snow Buntings are a no show, ovatum Roy ?... all dead and a pot of very fine rivale ex Michael all dead.

Shouldnt they be hardier than this? Do vine weevils attack Trilliums?

On a positive note a couple of flowers from a group that grow in full sun on the rockery

[Knud]

As far as I know, they are certainly very cold hardy, Mark. Maybe a wet and long autumn followed by a cold winter is not to their liking? Here I think most of my 6-8 species have survived this winter. Our cool summers and long wet autumns tend to keep many trilliums green quite late into the autumn, certainly a lot later than what I have seen in Ontario woods, where they grow naturally, and where they are probably "shut down" by hot and dry summers well before onset of their very cold winters. Then again, I have never lost any trilliums in the ground, - yet, so my speculation is not entirely well founded.

Knud