Monday, April 13, 2009

Woodland Wildflowers


Well that didn't take long. One of the Trilliums is flowering at a very low height. I don't know the species name to this one in particular but it's only 3 inches tall, and that's a flower bud on it. I know it's red flowering one though but we'll see how true that is. Color can vary with Trillium species though one color does seem to dominate. Assuming it's pollinated though I should get some Trillium seeds to test around and see what ants like them or just see if/how they distribute around the yard.

Other Trilliums I have are a bit taller than this one, but don't have the flower bud yet. This is fine I think though because they might still produce more leaves (series of 3) before flowering. Or the flower bud is under or to the side of the leaves and I haven't noticed it yet. In either case I'll be planting more trilliums for years to come until I get a continuous bloom.


Bloodroot is also coming up nicely. However I don't know if it will flower this year. All the pictures I see online show them flowering before the leaf unfolds. As a landscaping plant I'd say this could be treated and planted anywhere you'd think a Crocus would look nice. They bloom a bit later though. And as with the Trilliums they are distributed by ants.

Hopefully all these ant plants will pay off and I'll get some pictures of ants obtaining obtaining the seeds. These plants might even mark where some ant colonies are.