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Enter your zip code to see plants that will work in YOUR garden. No more guesswork!
Enter your zip code to see plants that will work in YOUR garden. No more guesswork!
To help gardeners understand which plants will grow well for them, the entire USA has been segmented into ‘Plant Hardiness Zones’. Knowing your zone number is helpful when shopping for plants because:
The Rose Trillium (or Rosy Trillium or Catesbys Trillium) is one of the easiest to grow. It is native to our southeastern highlands, but does well in most of the country with the right conditions--which means rich woodland soil in shade. Our trillium plants are nursery propagated from seed, and are 4 to 5 years old.
The Trillium Tribe, and why its so famous. The classic 4-inch thick botanical reference work, Hortus Third, tells us that there are about 30 species of Trillium worldwide, but the majority of the species are native to North America. A very few originate in Japan and Korea, none in Europe. This is one reason that our colonists were so taken with these woodland beauties when they arrived. They had simply never seen anything like them.
Trilliums, as the name implies have everything in 3s--three leaves, three petals, etc. And compared to the other spring flowers that bloom when winter is finally over in our cold climates, the Trilliums are the ones with large look-at-me flowers. They were famous with the Indians before colonization, and instantly the stars of spring bloom with the colonists.
Remember, when the colonists arrived, they arrived on our east coast which was totally wooded--big, primeval old growth forest, right down to the beaches. And under these cathedral-like trees were the woodland native flowers--almost all species the Europeans had never seen. Also, this is why almost all the native flowers of our east coast are woodland plants, not meadow wildflowers. Of this famous original group of woodland wildflowers, which includes the Lady Slippers, Mayflower, Hepatica and many more, the Trilliums reigned supreme.
For centuries the flowers were picked heavily, which is unfortunate since a picked trillium is a dead trillium. But it was the clearing of the forests for farming, a necessity for the colonists, that really devastated the woodland wildflowers. We like to wring our hands about paving for interstates and new condominium projects today, but we needn't. The damage was done long ago when our ancestors cleared the eastern forests for farming. Of course, there are relatively small habitats left, and in recent years, our forested area has been enlarging, and woodland wildflower habitat has been restored in many places.
In any case, this elegant class of flowers, the Trilliums, are now recognized as precious and special, although they are not officially endangered. In many areas, Trilliums are still very common.
Wildflower gardeners love them, and it is true that most of them are not difficult to grow or transplant, and if conditions are good, they thrive. However, it does help to know the facts.
Here's how they are propagated. Trilliums such as The Great White spread very slowly by underground root stocks, and the seed produced creates new plants even more slowly. From a planted seed, it takes approximately five to nine years for a Trillium grandiflorum plant (the Great White Trillium) to bloom. So when you see a massive drift of these in spring, you know you're looking at a bunch of plants that are at least a decade old, probably much older. These plants are not daisies!
And how do they propagate themselves? Well, T. grandiflorum is one of the wildflowers whose seeds are distributed by ants. Yes, ants--not birds or bees, or the wind, but ants. This is why the species creates large close drifts over the years. Plants are never very far apart, since ants don't travel far. So each clump of T. grandiflorum you see was planted where you see it by an ant. (They carry the seeds away when they fall from the plant because the ants enjoy the sticky covering each seed case has when it falls to the ground.)
That brings us to the basic rarity of the Trilliums. A big factor is that each flower produces only one seed case when it fades. (Everybody knows that most flowers--a daisy, for example, produces hundreds of loose seeds from each flower.) So even if the ants find the sticky seed case, and take it underground where the several seeds inside can grow, there simply aren't huge numbers of white trillium seeds being planted each year. Other trillium species have various propagation strategies, but all take years and years.
Now you have some idea of the value of these beautiful plants. They are an important part of American botanical history, and deserve a place of honor in every American wildflower garden.
Here are the best known species, with a little info on each:
Trillium grandiflorum, Great White Trillium. The provincial flower of Ontario, and quite common there and around the Great Lakes. Also the official wildflower of Ohio, T. grandiflorum is native over most of the east, from Canada to Georgia, especially in neutral or non-acid soils. Large white flowers fade to pink; plants form large drifts.
Trillium erectum, Red Trillium. Also called Wake Robin and Stinking Benjamin, the second because of the flowers unpleasant odor, said to be similar to rotting meat. Propagated by flies. Red to purple flowers; plants solitary in acid or alkaline woods. Native to the eastern forests from Canada to Georgia.
Trillium undulatum, Painted Trillium. Smaller than the Great White or Red, but with one of the most beautiful flowers--white with purplish/red centers. Must have highly acidic soil; common in pine woods. Native to forests from Canada to Georgia.
Trillium Catesbaei, Rosy Trillium or Catesby Trillium. One of the first Trilliums discovered and named for Mark Catesby, the famous early British plant explorer and artist. The Rosy Trillium has somewhat smallish blooms which nod below the leaves. It is native to the Southeast, where Catesby visited.
Trillium viride var luteum, Yellow Trillium. This unusual Trillium has mottled leaves and lemon yellow blooms that hold their petals high and never really open. It is often said to have a lemon scent, and is native from Kentucky south to Florida.
Trillium ovatum, Coast Trillium. This is a famous western trillium, much like T. grandiflorum in the east. Flowers are white, fading to pink. It is native from British Columbia through coastal forests all the way to central California.
4FTRIL3 (Bag of 3) - Out of stock.
4TRIL3 (Bag of 3)
|Common Name||Wake Robin|
|Botanical Name||Trillium catesbaei|
|Zones||5, 6, 7, 8|
|Light Requirements||Half Sun / Half Shade, Full Shade|
|Mature Height||8-12" tall|
|Estimated Mature Spread||12" wide|
|Bloom Time||Mid to late spring|
|Planting Depth||Plant so that the top of the root is 1" below the soil line.|
|Ships As||Bare Root|
|Planting Time||Spring / Summer|
|Soil Type||Loamy Soil, Moist/Wet Soil|
|Soil Moisture||Average, Moist/Wet, Well Draining|
|Advantages||Deer Resistant, Plants for Small Spaces|
|Ships to Hawaii, Alaska & Canada||No|
Shipping begins in late March based on ground temperatures, warmest zones first.
As soon as your order is placed you will receive an order confirmation email that will include your shipping information. We ship perennials and spring-planted bulbs at the proper planting time for your hardiness zone. Perennials and spring-planted bulb orders will arrive separately from seeds. If your order requires more than one shipment, there is no additional shipping charge. See our shipping information page for approximate ship dates and more detailed information. If you need express shipping or have any questions, please call Customer Service toll-free at (877) 309-7333 or contact us by email.
You will receive a second email the day your order ships telling you how it has been sent. Your order is scheduled to arrive at your door, fresh and ready to plant, usually within 3-5 days of leaving our warehouse, depending on your shipping address. We pack our plants to withstand up to 10 days in transit, in the event transit is delayed. We cannot guarantee arrival on a specific day. Please make sure to open your package upon receipt and follow the instructions included.
To determine if a plant is sufficiently cold hardy, the USDA created numbered zones indicating winter low temperatures; the lower the zone number the colder the winter.
Enter your Zip Code to find your USDA Planting Zone
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