Disappointment Four Years In The Making

Trilliums have been on our must have list for many years.  Giant Whites and Stinking Benjamins are well represented in our two shade gardens.  We have wanted Painted Trilliums for what seems like forever.  Despite our past habit of frequent woodland hikes, we have yet to see a natural occurrence of that beautiful flower.  We have also never seen it offered for sale.  A search taken just minutes ago did offer seeds for this plant.  We would be 84 years old before a Trillium from seed might be seen.  No order was placed.

When we first saw this bud we expected our long wait to be nearly over as this plant was sold to us as Painted trillium.  Daily visual checks were made for the past two weeks and we could barely contain our delight.

This purple colored bud is all wrong for the mostly white colored flower that we were expecting but that realization did not hit home for entirely too long.  We did order these plants four years ago.  No above ground growth appeared during their first year with us.  Pathetic is an appropriate description for the small plants that did appear over the next two years.  This year their appearance strongly suggested that our wait for a flower might be over.

 

When the realization that the petal color was all wrong we continued to wait for the typical blossom configuration of flat petals.  That has not happened and never will.  This hands over head is as open as these plants ever present.  Trillium cuneatum or Little Sweet Betsy goes about the business of pollination from this position.

 

This is the other flowering plant from the six purchased.  Each is close to another plant but that increase in number happened only as the result of underground action.  This is as close as we will ever get to having a Painted trillium.  We would happily settle for simply seeing this plant in the wild if anyone would share the location of this apparently rare treasure.
 

Finally Underway

When the Trilliums fully open their blossoms, the wild flower season is well on its way.  These transplants have been growing here for a decade or more.  Single plants have expanded now sending up several flowering stalks.  Bare ground does not predominate but plants considered to be weeds are evident.  They were cleared out earlier but as always they must return.  They will be removed again after the Trilliums have completed their growing season's work.

This shade garden within sight of the road is a more recent project.  Most of the moved plants are still alive but few have advanced beyond a single shoot.  Just to the right of the flat stone at the bottom of the picture perhaps one dozen Jack In The Pulpits are pushing up new growth.  We were concerned that our crowd of deer had ended these plants with repeated deep hoof stabbings.  If nothing else, the scattered wire cages have made it difficult for the deer to walk here.  The Woodland Phlox in the upper right corner is densely covered with white blossoms.  A favorite snack of the deer required the placement of a circular wire cage.  A curved swath of recently planted Trilliums fills the center of the photo.

Our point and shoot camera does not accurately capture the color of this Jacob's Ladder flowers.  In the upper left corner find the Twin Leaf plants now encased in a wire cage.  It took far longer then it should have for us to focus in on predation as the cause of this plant's repeated disappearances.  Slowly we catch on.  The wire certainly detracts from the natural look that we strive to create but at least the plants remain alive now.

To most people this might not look like much but we finally have two Painted Trilliums that appear determined to open flowers this year.  The purpose of flowers is to produce seed intended to establish the next generation of plants.  We are wildly pleased with the prospects of open flowers and intend to remain above this land long enough to at least see an increase in the number of these plants growing here.

This Woodland Phlox was seen in the background of an earlier photo but we feel that it deserves no less than a picture of mostly it.  This is a hardy plant despite of its attraction of the deer but we expect to see numerous plants scattered about garden.

This is not the first picture of our Bloodroot.  No flowers were produced this year but there is a fairly large number of new plants growing from old seed.  If the weather cooperates, we should see perhaps three blossoms here next year accompanied by several small second year plants promising future flowers.

This planting of Cardinal Flower has been left largely alone.  Some Chrysanthemum stems were scattered about following snow melt but otherwise these plants have been on their own.  The remaining Wild Geraniums need to be removed.  Their above ground growth appears small and attractive but the underground root mass is huge.

 

 This is the northern tip of Moss Island.  The white flowered Shooting Stars have settled in nicely but the moss clumps barely cling to life.  These plants simply need more moisture and denser shade.  A heavy rain will turn them green but only for a short period of time.  Still, their determination to remain alive is at least inspiring.

Our digital camera is outdated and showing signs of rigor mortis.  It worked today but I don't know about tomorrow.  Eight pictures is perhaps excessive for a post but who knows when its replacement will actually arrive?

Painted Trillium

White Trilliums have been a focus here for the 27 years that we have owned this land.  Their naturally occurring numbers have been extremely limited and we yearly add additional purchased plants with somewhat disappointing success.  We have encountered photos and written words focused on Painted Trilliums but have never seen them in the wild nor in stock at nearby native plant businesses.  Four or five years ago we stumbled upon a Tennessee based mail order dealer that offered this plant for sale at a somewhat reasonable price.  Six plants were Fall ordered since overwintering new transplants gives them the best chance of survival.  The photo shows that exactly half of the plants remain alive.  That is close to our success rate for the more commonly seen native whites.

The year following transplanting did not show any signs of growth.  A phone call to the dealer revealed a no show was a common experience and that I should give them another year.  He promised replacement if nothing appeared during their second season here.  I was certain that I was being hustled but accepted his promise.  This place of business remains in operation but will now not ship to New York State.  I expect that the issue is sales tax not my struggle with his plants.  So the present appearance of four plants will hold my attention for as long as we remain on this land.

The lesson learned is the pace of growth among many wild native plants.  Seven years is often listed as the time required from planting seed to seeing a flower.  Our transplants may open their buds this year just slightly faster than a plant grown from seed.  Deer dancing among our native plants may have diminished the number viable plants so a wire cage now protects these highly prized plants.  If flowers occur here, that should happen soon.  We may see White, Stinking Benjamin and Painted Trillium flowers fairly close together in our woodland garden this year. With a little luck today's warm rain will speed the process along.  We are watching in breathless anticipation!
 

New Plants Every Day

To most this would appear to be a picture of nothing.  It seems that five wooden Popsicle sticks are scattered on the surface of ground dead leaves.  Sharp eyes might see the letters PT on the markers.  It may be hard to believe that we were wildly excited by what we saw here this morning.

In the Fall of 2017, we placed an order for dormant plant parts from Tennessee Wholesale Nursery.  The following Spring nothing grew where we had placed the root-stocks.  A call of complaint was made and we were assured that  we would see live plants in another year.  We were understandably skeptical but were assured that the guarantee would be honored if nothing grew.  So we waited.

This morning we were thrilled to see Painted Trilliums growing near four of the plant markers.  One of the plants had sent up two stems and we will likely see the remaining plant soon.  We fully expect that flowers may be a year or two away as these plants adjust to their new home.  We are more than willing to wait since we have never seen this plant in the wild despite its being reported as common in the Catskills.  We now have live plants that spent a year and one half totally hidden from view.  One has to wonder just what the plant pieces were doing for that length of time.

Here we have two old friends.  The three heavily veined closed leaves mark the appearance of Wild Ginger.  Our new shade garden is the third location that this plant has occupied.  It is just possible that this carefully chosen spot will support growth appropriate for a ground cover.  The bright cluster of leaves belong to Sweet Woodruff.  This nonnative was not part of the planned transplanting but came along uninvited.  It is not by choice that we will allow this alien to remain here.

The Unadilla River Valley has been home to dairy cows ever since European immigrants first arrived on this land.  In the last few years, the size of the dairies has exploded with hundreds of cows never leaving the huge shed on a factory farm.  Manure is drained into huge circular cement ponds where it waits its time to be spread on the fields.  Yesterday the manure tanker made many trips to coat the entire field with this slippery brown gold.  Needless to say the smell of pit manure is nothing like the wholesome scent of old fashioned manure mixed with straw bedding.  Putrid is a descriptive word that is nearly vile enough to describe the stench.

The owners of Cobar Farms are both former students of mine.  We find them to be remarkably considerate since the manure on this field is always turned under the day following its application.  For the size of their dairy operation, this is a really small field but they are excellent neighbors.

Rain is in the forecast for the next several days.  That should send more perennial plants into visible above ground growth.  This year's gardens are truly underway.