Trillium 2012

[Paul T]

Maggi,

I think we normally suffer that here too, but not at the moment for some reason.  I am not complaining. 

Glad you're enjoying the pics.

[annew]

The seedling variation makes for a beautiful display en masse, Paul.

[John Aipassa]

Great trilliums, Paul - and without the usual holes chomped in the leaves that we often suffer!

   Do you have a bug problem there Maggi 

Nice seedlings by the way Paul!

[Maggi Young]

  Do you have a bug problem there Maggi 

You guessed that correctly, John.  Every kind of chewing bug and mollusc that beset gardeners, I think!

[John Aipassa]

Well you are not alone there. I manage to keep the leaves intact for a few weeks after opening but then.........the critters come to me too . So I have a short window for taking pictures with Trilliums intact and after that I just have to let it be .

When I have an ant colony living near a Trillium bed, the leaves stay intact though. The ants are around and on the plants and keep the chomping kinds at bay. Little friends but annoying when I am pulling weeds or taking pictures on my knees and the ants decide to investigate me and enter through every hole in my clothes and start to bite.

[Maggi Young]

No ants in our garden, John. No idea why not.

[John Aipassa]

Huh? No ants? I thought these critters are everywhere. My garden is infested with them. Tiny black and orange ones.

Do you have some natural repellent in your garden?

[Maggi Young]

If there is some natural repellent for the ants here, then we are unaware of it.  What sort of thing would be naturally repellent to them, I wonder?

[John Aipassa]

There are herbs known for keeping ants at bay. Mint, tansy and pennyroyal are used for this purpose. It is told that marigolds are effectieve too. It is said that ants also dislike bone meal. I haven't tried these myself hence the amount of investation of ants in my garden .

[Lesley Cox]

A possible new home we are looking at has a half acre garden including clumps of Trillium chloropetalum, both red and white, each a metre wide! Several clumps of each. Smaller clumps of grandiflorum.

[Paul T]

Wow, Lesley.  They're almost weeds for you guys. 

I still haven't managed to even grow grandiflorum succesfully as yet, let alone having a clump of it.