Amongst the most prized of all spring flowering plants are the Trilliums, a uniformly fascinating, beautiful and nearly unique genus of 43 species native to North America with a small handful hailing from Asia.
Trillium grandiflorum f. roseum
Whilst any display of spring flowering perennials is a pretty magical site, pushing, as they do, from near barren ground to display their flowering and leafy wears for all to see, there is definitely something really special about Trilliums.
They are the kind of plant that, when in flower, will cause even the most jaded non gardener to stop and stare, alongside the many converts and aficionados who will doubtless already be drooling with delight.
Trillium basics.
Trilliums grow from fleshy underground rhizomes (swollen stems) each of which produces just one single growth point. In mid spring – typically April in the UK – this slowly enlarges to form a single upright stem with a whorl of leaves on top of which opens a single flower. Over time these rhizomes reproduce themselves and form new growth points and eventually spread to create whole colonies.
Trillium chloropetalum.
There are, broadly speaking, two different groups of Trillium, each characterised by the flower, which either grows directly from the centre of the leaves, and is rigidly upright, or is held aloft on a short stem, and is often nodding.
The leaves of some species are almost as decorative as the flowers, being large, heart-shaped, and splashed, patterned and blotched with silvery/grey/green, whilst flowers vary from snow white to pink and yellow with a large number of intense crimson, red-violet and blood red. These are plants that aren’t shy about making their presence felt in the garden, that’s for sure.
Cultivation.
Trillium cuneatum.
It’s fair to say that Trilliums come with something of a reputation for being hard to grow successfully. This reputation undoubtedly puts many gardeners off trying the plants, which is a shame, because, given half-decent conditions Trilliums are not problematic in any way and clumps will slowly enlarge and persist for many decades with really very little care, attention or intervention.
One thing that certainly is true is that plants can be slow to establish, particularly if they are planted as dormant rhizomes. In fact they can sulk and fail to appear above ground at all for the first year – during which time they are actually making new roots and seeking to establish themselves into their new site.
Trillium flexipes.
All Trilliums are much better planted whilst in growth, preferable from freshly divided or already potted specimens, when they should get away quite happily and establish more readily.
In the wild Trilliums are plants of the forest floor, emerging before the leaves on the trees above them, and fading away by mid summer. Once established they can tolerate relatively dry conditions, but for the first year or so they benefit greatly from being kept moist.
Soil should be humus rich and well drained and the position should ideally provide dappled shade – just like any woodland floor in fact.
Trillium underwoodii.
The Asiatic species are much less frequently seen in cultivation and all prefer a richer, more moist soil. In the wild they often associate with bog margin plants like Skunk Cabbages (Lysichiton spp.) and given sufficient moisture at the roots these species they will also tolerate a sunnier spot than their American cousins.
Two species (T. undulatum and T. nivale) lovely though they both are, are much tougher to please and can’t really be considered suitable for garden cultivation outside the preserve of specialist collections.
Propagation.
Trillium erectum.
Most Trillium are pretty slow to bulk themselves up and it’s the patient gardener who gets to dig up and divide his or her clumps. Some species, though, do spread more rapidly and a few forms and hybrids, in particular, have proven to be keener to bulk up, but none could possibly ever be accused of being vigorous.
In the wild, of course, the species spread themselves pretty successfully by seed, and for a few lucky gardeners their plants do the same job without any assistance. Generally though Trillium seed is slow to germinate and the young plants painfully slow to mature to flowering size – four to seven years being the norm.
It’s this slowness to mature and reproduce that has given Trilliums their rather unjustified reputation for being tough to cultivate. Once you’ve seen a North American woodland floor carpeted, bluebell-like, with Trilliums, out-competing rival plants as far as the eye can see, you’ll have a tough job to believe that these guys could possibly be hard to grow!
Pests.
Trillium luteum.
Trilliums are pretty tough customers, absolutely bone hardy and, happily, are not attractive to many pests. Slugs and snails can be troublesome but are easily repelled from individual plants or small colonies, and it’s definitely worth protecting those beautiful leaves from being munched.
Rhizomes can rot when the plants are dormant if the soil is allowed to get saturated or is very poorly drained, and plants can retreat back under ground in severely dry conditions, but that’s about it in terms of common problems.
Trillium species.
Although some of the species are extremely expensive and rarely offered for sale there are a decent number of species and a few varieties that are fairly widely available and at reasonable prices.
Trillium grandiflorum double.
There are also a handful of extremely choice double-flowered cultivars as well as a beautiful pink form in cultivation. T. ovatum, is similar although smaller flowered, whilst T. cernuum and T. catesbaei have nodding flowers in white, often flushed with pink. T. flexipes is another widespread white flowered species, and one of the most willing to increase itself in cultivation.
T. rugalii is a particularly beautiful species. The nodding white flowers have heavily recurved petals that display a central contrasting ovary of deep maroon red.
Trillium albidum.
T. albidum is another gem, with upright flowers of white veined with rosy purple. It’s also gorgeously fragrant, reminding me of violets and roses. T. erectum is another widespread and easy species with recurving flowers of intense crimson red.
Probably the showiest of all Trilliums though are those with upright flowers of deep blackish maroon-red held over very large, marble-patterned leaves. There are a number of closely related species (T. cuneatum, T. sessile, T. chloropetalum & T. kurabayashii are the most widely cultivated, T. decumbans, T. underwodii & T. maculatum the most spectacular) that are variations on the same theme. They can be tough to distinguish from one another, and many in cultivation are wrongly labelled in any case, but they are all nothing short of awesome when in growth, so you won’t go far wrong with any of them.
Trillium flexipes hybrid.
There are several yellow flowered forms of different species, but the widespread T. luteum is always lemon-yellow and is the only yellow Trillium likely to be encountered in this country.
Several species naturally hybridise in the wild and others have been crossed in cultivation.
Although these hybrids aren’t often available, they are almost always extremely beautiful and highly unusual – as well as easily grown – so it’s definitely worth seeking them out whenever possible.
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