HOW TO GROW TRILLIUMS

How to grow trilliums

You may not be familiar with Trilliums, but they are one of the most unusual and beautiful of all the early flowering woodland plants. Native to temperate regions of North America and Asia, Trillium is a genus of about 40–50 species of perennial flowering plants.

Trillium flower - Bernard B. ILarde

Unusually, trilliums do not produce any true leaves, instead they produce three large bracts. Each bract is a specialized leaf attached to the flower structure and for all intent and purposes takes the role of a true leaf. The reason why each bract is so large is because these are the only photosynthetic structures the plant produces.

Each stem produces a single flower set in the axis of the bracts. Each flower contains three green or reddish sepals and usually three petals. Depending on the species, the flower can be coloured in shades of red, purple, pink, white, yellow, or green.

Trilliums will grow in any moist, well-drained soil, but will need plenty of humus added if not already incorporated. They require a partially shaded site and as you would expect deciduous woodlands are ideal. Trilliums will grow in a sunny position but the soil must be kept moist through its growing period.

Trilliums are available as pot grown plants in the spring or as pre-packed bare root stock in the autumn. Plant the rhizomes as soon as they are available in small groups 3- 4 inches apart.

Bernard B. ILarde file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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