Flowering this week are an array of winter flowering trout lilies of the genus Erythronium, a plant I’ve admired since being a young child, and seeing it grow naturally near our Raleigh, NC home. Erythronium is a genus of only 33 species, spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere. While many of the cold climate species won’t survive here, we focus our effort on those from warmer regions. After flowering, all species quickly go dormant before the onset of warm weather.
Erythronium mesochorum is a midwestern species, ranging from Iowa south to Texas. It does not multiply by stolons like some of the species, so must be grown from seed. Below is our collection from Arkansas.
Erythronium rostratum is one of the largest growing of the warm climate species, naturally ranging from Ohio south to Texas. It also does not spread widely by stolons, but does offset. This is also an Arkansas ecotype.
Erythronium umbilicatum ‘Parks Mill’ is a creamy edged selection of a stoloniferous East Coast species, which naturally occurs from West Virginia south into Florida. This selection was discovered in South Carolina.
I’ve had good luck with Erythronium revolution x californium on a wooded hillside in Chapel Hill. What started off as a single plant two years ago as shown in the photo looks like it has expanded to seven plants this spring.
How great to know. Thanks for sharing your success.
I have a trout lily patch, unknown species, that is at least 6′ – 8′ across, but can never get them to bloom, suggestions please. None are up here is central IL yet.
Thank you
Jack
The stoloniferous species like E. americanum and E. umbillicatum have the habit of sparse or no flowering in some conditions. The cause has been debated for decades. Some folks proclaim that the bulbs pull themselves too deep into the ground, so that the flowers can no longer reach the surface. They reccomend that you bury a horizonal rock beneath the clump, allowing for a couple of inches of soil over the top, which should stop the downward movement of the bulbs, and allow for better flowering. We have not tested this, but have observed very well-flowering clumps in the wild, growing over such a natural rock formation. Growing them in too much shade will also cause a lack of flowering.