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Research: PROPAGATION: PUSILLUM CLUMPING (04RP_01) |
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Objective 1:
Objective 2:
Objective 3:
Study Findings: (In Process). |
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Scientific Name:
Trillium pusillum var. alabamicum
(Michaux) Photograph: Harold Holmes |
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Scientific Name:
Trillium pusillum var. alabamicum
(Michaux) Photograph: Harold Holmes |
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Photograph: Harold Holmes |
Below are pictures from one trillium pusillum clump. Note the lack of blooming stems and the varing rhizome size and age. Observations were made in 2004 and rhizomes were replanted in an improved leaf mulch bed for later observations.
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Below are pictures from one trillium pusillum clump. This clump grew from several rhizomes given me 5-7 years ago and planted in a 100% decomposed leaf mulch bed. Observations were made in 2005 and rhizomes were replanted in an improved 1-1-1 mulch bed for later observations.
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Pusillium
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The Pictures below document 10 of the 20 Pusillum clumps under study. Note there are many stems and few blooms.
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Pusillium
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Pusillium
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Pusillium
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The following Trillium Pusillum article was provided to the Trillium List by David Mellard.
Hi Everyone,
I wrote the article that follows for the NZ Trillium Group. Now that it's published, I want to share it with you.
David
Atlanta
Joy’s gentle persistence has prompted me to take time to write a short article for the NZ Trillium Group. I’m quite taken with the idea that you are the only Trillium society in the world and wish to do what I can to make the group successful. While I’m most knowledgeable about the sessile group, I thought I would write first about the pusillum complex…..mostly because I have something interesting to say. I promise to write later about the sessile Trillium.
As you know, T. pusillum is found in a particular microclimate throughout the southern United States. I have seen many pusillum varieties in their native habitat, and they are consistently found in damp, almost boggy conditions. I’m most familiar with v. georgianum, having visited its location several times during the year. While the soil where it grows dries out considerably in late summer and early fall, soil conditions during winter and spring are quite damp. The habitat is very sunny in early spring but becomes shady later in spring as the leaves come out. By mid summer, the soil is completely dry and the plants are dormant. During Spring, rhizomes can be found on small mounds of up-lifted soil (mostly clay) surrounded by very wet, very boggy conditions. Short distances away, where the soil dries out a bit, fewer and fewer plants are found. I have also seen v. alabamacum, v. texanum, and v. pusillum in the same conditions. The exception is v. ozarkanum, which I found growing close to a stream but in soil conditions that were not boggy. I have not observed v. kentuckianum, monticulum, or virginianum in nature so cannot speak to their particular native habitat but suspect that they too prefer damp microhabitats.
I have been growing most varieties now for several years so this has given the plants a chance to get well-established. I have several populations of v. georgianum growing in typical garden conditions in highly amended soil. The plants are doing well, producing many offshoots with single leaves and occasionally having several blooming plants in a clump. This brings me to the point of this article. I grow many carnivorous plants in sunny bogs. These bogs are made from preformed ponds that are sunk into the ground and filled with a mix of milled sphagnum peat moss and play sand. Because I have some bog plants that prefer shade, I placed one of the bogs under a dogwood tree. Several years ago, I decided to put v. georgianum plants in the shade bog to see how they did, thinking that the shade bog comes close to mimicking their native habitat. The plants are well-established now. The other day, I made some casual comparisons to v. georgianum that are growing in garden soil and was surprised to notice that v. georgianum in the shade bog were larger and had a higher percentage of blooming plants. The plants appeared to be larger than plants in their native habitat. The plants are not growing in water, though, as the soil is several inches above the rim of the container, held in place by rocks.
The last few years, I have begun to fertilize all my Trillium rather lightly. In late winter and early Spring, I find whatever pelleted fertilizer that I have on hand and broadcast it on the Trillium beds, including the shade bog. I think this practice along with being in a constantly wet environment has allowed the shade bog v. georgianum to thrive and outperform their garden relatives. Because alabamacum, texanum, and pusillum are found in similar boggy habitat, I suspect that they would do better in a shade bog.
If you are unfamiliar with the term milled sphagnum peat moss, it is the pulverized peat moss (in this case from Canadian) that is brown and powdery. I’m unsure if you have a similar ingredient but I think that you could easily find a substitute. The peat moss provides some nutrients but I suspect that it is the constantly moist conditions that are the prerequisite for providing good growing conditions.
After this article appears in the newsletter, I will post it to the Trillium-List but wanted you to get the scoop first. I hope you find it useful.
David Mellard, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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