Trillium luteum portrait

One of the many new seeds offerings this year, Trillium luteum (Yellow trillium, wax trillium) is a species that belongs to the sessile group. A native of South Eastern US, it has beautifully marbled foliage and light yellow flowers with a pleasant lemony fragrance – which is also an easy character to distinguish it from T. sessile, which is very similar morphologically.

My favorite shade spot in the garden in May is where the yellow Trillium’s slender flowers are effortlessly mingling with Primula sieboldii, Paris quadrifolia and Epimedum stellulatum. This species doesn’t grow wild in Canada or Ontario, which makes it an even more precious plant to have and enjoy in our gardens.

By contrast with T. grandiflorum and T. erectum, the petals are long lasting and the plants seem to remain in flower a long time after pollination. Likewise, the fruits take a long time to ripen; the last ones were collected yesterday.
I was able to check the germination with the few seeds produced in the past years and the germination is reliable in the first spring (a slightly warm cycle followed by a cold period/winter). The first flowers should appear in the fourth year.

Trillium luteum moist packed seeds