Trillium 2014

Rick

a really interesting article,a bit over my head but well worth reading.

One summer I got some damp stored seed from Kristl Walek of Trillium grandiflorum and sowed it on receipt. It was kept damp and germinated the following spring.No double dormancy.

I also collected some unripe green pods of Trillium ovatum and the seed inside was white and squishy,quite undeveloped. It germinated like the proverbial cress the following spring.

It would seem with a little effort and luck we can in unnatural conditions short cut nature.

John Gyer spoke at the Tri-state meeting hosted by Hudson Valley Chptr in October, 2008.  He basically said that everything going on during the first 4 to 6 months of the germination process is happening underground, no light necessary.  At this point seed needs to be chilled for 45 days.  The chilling switches it into a photomorphogenic (?) stage and it then needs light to start the above ground growth process.  He claims that if Trillium seed is harvested while immature it is in active growth and will thus germinate more easily whereas mature seed enters a sort of dormancy.  Immature harvested seed can cut time to flowering by 1 to 2 years.

His presentation was very good and his slides were great - some drop dead gorgeous shots of various species.  Great speaker idea.

Maryanne Gryboski

The trilliums have been in bloom for about a month.  The hot weather of the last few days has taken a toll but many still look very nice.

I meant to post pictures of Pseudotrillium rivale last month and can't find a post, so I must not have.  Here is a selection of forms that I grow.

   and a little one from Betty Lowry called 'Bird's Beak'

Very nice, Claire! Do they grow in a kind of woodland?

They grow all over my garden.  Some T. rivale live in pots on the north side of my house on a sand bed, so I can keep the strains separate and collect seed.  But all other trilliums are in the ground.  I'd say most enjoy shade for at least part of the day, but many get quite a bit of sun.  They are mixed in with other plants.

Trillium grandiflorum, in a double form, with Calanthe sieboldii.  This particular double trillium increases readily and blooms reliably.

One last post: Trillium hybrids, the result of crosses with T. sulcatum, flexipes, and erectum.

I think you posted them here Claire,?

https://www.nargs.org/comment/25346#comment-25346

Thanks, Ron, for finding it.  I'm not going crazy after all!    Or maybe not getting any crazier than usual.

The SEARCH feature didn't bring it up.  Not such a great tool.

No, the search tool doesn't work very well, unfortunately.   It has been brought up a few times, to no avail.

[quote=Cockcroft]

They grow all over my garden.  Some T. rivale live in pots on the north side of my house on a sand bed, so I can keep the strains separate and collect seed.  But all other trilliums are in the ground.  I'd say most enjoy shade for at least part of the day, but many get quite a bit of sun.  They are mixed in with other plants.

[/quote]

Thanks Claire.

I am slowly building up the Trillium inventory in my woodland! Hope I'll get something like your collection some time!

I too, am completely disgusted by the search incapability here.  I have never used the Angry emoticon anywhere, but it so so appropriate here.