You may not see any trilliums at all this year. I bought the same packet of trilliums from HD my first year in my current house and never seen them. Its been 3 years. None. I bought a good amount of Trillium Grandiflorum from VV and none came up that year. Next year I was surprised to see they came up! But no flowers, year after that, still no flowers, this year, most of them have flowers and growing quite nicely. Now they are facing their deadliest enemy. Squirrels.

I actually may order again from Viola Valley.

Thanx for the reply.

I might dig a couple up and see if the roots are even still there.

I have tons of squirrels (both red and gray) ... and chipmunks ... and raccoons ... and muskrats ... and deer.

I bought that same package at Lowe's also. It took two years to sprout. Bloomed the 3rd year and this year has 7 buds on it.
I bought a package wholesale this year. I haven't planted them yet. But I noticed the other day, one had broke through the plastic with three small leaves and a flower bud!
Pam

Can anyone find anything to support this? I'm reading that it is very difficult to dig tubers in the wild and you really have to know what you are doing. I think most commercial stock may be grown from seed.
Years ago, the woods here had a lot of trillium and lady's slippers. The deer population has stripped the woods. Nothing left but ferns now.
Pam

I also have heard that the roots in the small plastic bags were acquired in a non-environmentally way, but not necessarily illegally dug. As for their being endangered, few are nationally. You will have to check with your state's list. In NC many are on the watch list, but only a few are listed as endangered. Of course, the list changes slightly from year to year, as populations are discovered or other populations decline or vanish.

I did buy some of those packets about 10 years ago, and I had no results, not even from trout lilies or other plants. Our stores stopped selling them. You should request your big box stores to do the same. I understand there is a person at the local level who orders for that store.

I would much rather have an actual plant rather than bare roots, although I have bought bare root plants from reputable dealers, and these have thrived.

Here is a link that might be useful: Federally Endangered Trilliums

I have nothing to support it, just what she told me. Also, I'm not sure what the laws are in NY where I live but it's not the first time I've heard that you aren't supposed to dig them. I am thrilled with the trillium I bought yesterday. Just went out and sprayed them with a bit of liquid fence.

Yes, the over population of deer around here and even in the mountains has put much stress on many plants, especially those in the lily family, in which trillium used to be. As for being difficult to dig, I have found them very easy...some are almost on top of the clay soil here in the Piedmont but much deeper in the mountains, in good soil.

We are in a third year of rescue on a Piedmont site that has T. cuneatum, and if you don't mind the briars and poison ivy, the trilliums are easy to dig. Even if you cut them a little, they usually bounce back. Of course, T. cuneatum is supposed to be the "beginner's" trillium, and fairly tolerant of different soils and moisture.

Lisa, which type of trillium did you buy?

Each state makes it's own laws on plants that are legal to dig and what makes it legal. Some states you had to have a license to collect certain wild plants. Other states there are no state laws just federal.

There for if you live in NY but the plants were dug in NC the laws for NC should be the ones followed.

Somewhere I read that some companies are getting around the laws for trading in wild dug plants by putting them in a nursery bed for a couple of weeks. They can then sell as nursery grown. Not.

If your store has the plants I would recomend purchasing but try to get store to stop ordering. Some times the store only sells what is sent from their headquarters and can not stop the placement. Although it is wrong to sell wild dug plants in these tiny bags if someone does not purchase they will go into the trash. Rather than see them trashed I feel the lesser of the two evils is to try to give the plants life while trying to stop the sales.

Ncrescue, I bought Trillium grandiflorum althought she sold several varieties. Honestly, I can't remember ever having seen them growing wild, even as a kid. I do remember seeing lady slippers though, which she was selling for $40/plant!

T. grandiflorum grows in slightly higher elevations here, not in the Piedmont, but it lives here happily as a transplant. The leaves stay all summer if we don't have a drought, but T. cuneatum, the one that is "common" here, dies down completely when it gets hot.

We successfully rescued the pink lady slipper almost 10 years ago. Some are blooming right now. You can still find them in our dry pine woods around here if someone has not put a house on top of them. Critters do eat lady slippers, as well as some of the trilliums.

Lisa, thanks for sharing your experiences.

I read it takes a trillium 7 years to bloom. I found one blooming in my woodsy area. I am trying to post a photo. Only one of the 5 was blooming.

Here is a link that might be useful: