Wildflower Wednesday: Sweet Betsy Time in the Woodland Garden

I love Trillium cuneatum and revel in its spring emergence every year. It's been years since I showcased this beauty and I think it's a perfect little Wildflower Wednesday star.

It was one of the first native plants that I discovered when we moved here many years ago. Long time readers might remember that I built this garden around the native beauties I found all over the wooded edges of my yard. Sweet Betsy was hiding in the wayback backyard under the oak trees and I transplanted it to my new woodland garden. I remember carefully digging around it to get all the rhizome and roots and gently placing it in the garden. They survived and thrived despite my gardening ignorance.

Trillium cuneatum typically flowers from early March to mid April. It can be found in rich, mostly upland woods, but, it is especially happy growing on Middle Tennessee's Ordovician limestone soils (neutral to basic soil).  Trillium will be happy in your garden, if you give it a rich, moist soil, shade, protect it from browsing critters and keep aggressive perennials from crowding it. They can live for a long time and usually do not flower until they are several years old. It's found growing across Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Sweet Betsy is a great selection for your shade garden. Plants are hardy, drought-resistant (although they prefer moist soil), somewhat deer proof, and extremely long-lived.

Trilliums used to be a part of the Liliaceae family, but were recently moved to the family Melanthiaceae or. bunchflower family. 

 

There are over 50 species found worldwide with 18 calling Tennessee home.

Despite being known as Little Sweet Betsy it's the largest of the eastern sessile Trilliums, sometimes topping out at 15 inches tall.  In case you wondered, sessile means stalkless and what appears as a stem is actually an extension of the horizontal rhizome. The leaves, petals and sepals of all Trilliums come in groups of three. The three large, leaf-like bracts are typically mottled or striped, and has a single flower with three petals. The flower color can vary, but it is often maroon.

 Flowers have a sweet but faint fragrance (some say reminiscent of bananas), hence the common name of sweet Betsy. 

Ants collect and disperse the seeds of Trillium spp. They're attracted to the elaiosome, which is a large, lipid-rich structure attached to the seeds. The ant dispersal process is known as Myrmecochory. The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes and put the seeds in their garbage (midden), where they "can be protected" until they germinate. Yellow jackets are also seed disperses. Sweet Betsy depends upon myrmecochory for survival.

It will be years before this one flowers

Sweet Betsy is attractive to bees, moths, pollinators and small mammals. When they say attractive to mammals, they mean small critters that like to eat the rhizomes. Voles decimated my collection a few years ago. How can I blame that sweet little rodent! I was looking for the Trilliums and found little tunnels under the leaf mulch. I did replace the plants and carefully planted them in a mixture of soil with shale, then covered them with a wire basket. It's working-so far!

Sweet Betsy is abloom and dancing with the Spring ephemerals in our local natural areas. Middle Tennesseans put on your hiking gear and head to one of our many parks. Davidson county residents, we are lucky folks to have fabulous Metro Parks nearby (Warner Parks, Shelby Bottoms, Beaman Natural Area are but a few). 

Closer to home, Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum) can be seen in remnant woodlands  all over my neighborhood (and many others in Nashville). As long as our bee friendly yards aren't herbicided or replaced with non native monocultural lawns our native wildflowers~  Spring Beauties, Rue Anemone, Trout-lily, False Garlic, Blue-eyed Grass, Wild Sweet William and Sweet Betsy, will never disappear and will continue to delight us with their spring arrival. 

 

Trilliums are one of the most familiar and loved of the spring woodland wildflowers.

But, you don't have to take my word for it~Just check out Trails and Trilliums April 4-6th, 2025 in Beersheba Springs, TN. You can attend talks, hike and buy wildflowers. But hurry up registration closes March 30th.

xoxogail

The Particulars

Botanical Name: Trillium cuneatum
Common Name: Sweet Betsy, Little Sweet Betsy, whip-poor-will flower, large toadshade, purple toadshade, and bloody butcher 

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Family: Melanthiacea, Little Sweet Betsy falls within the sessile group
Flowering: flowers from early March to mid April. Showy, fragrant

Native Range: Southeastern United States

Zone: 5 to 8

Size: 1.00 to 1.50 feet tall and will spread to 1 foot

Bloom: Maroon to yellow to orange to reddish-green

Sun: Part shade to full shade

Water: Medium

Maintenance: Low

Foliage: Colorful

Characteristics: All Trillium species used to belong to the belong to the Liliaceae (lily) family,  but are now in their own family the Melanthiacea. They're are rhizomatous herbs with unbranched stems. Trillium plants produce no true leaves or stems above ground. The “stem” is just an extension of the horizontal rhizome and produces tiny, scale like leaves (cataphylls). (source)

Pollinators: produces pollen, but, I have never seen its pollinators! Beetles and other insects pollinate the flowers, attracted to their sweet scent.

seedhead

Propagation: Ants collect and disperse the seeds of Trillium spp. They're attracted to the elaiosome, which is a large, lipid-rich structure attached to the seeds. The ant dispersal process is known as Myrmecochory.  The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes and put the seeds in their garbage (midden), where they can be protected until they germinate. Yellow jackets are also seed disperses. Sweet Betsy depends upon ants for survival.

Wildlife value: Host plant for larvae of black-patched clepsis moth (Clepsis melaleucanus) and American angle shades moth (Euplexia benesimilis)
Comments: Never pick flowers or leaves, you will lose your plant. Each plant in the genus Trillium features three leaves in a terminal whorl. A single flower emerges on a stem which is either peduncled (on a stalk) or sessile (stalk absent). Trillium cuneatum is a sessile form. Can be browsed by deer and roots and rhizomes can be eaten by voles. (trust me they do get eaten)

 

 

 Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. On the fourth Wednesday of each month I share information about wildflowers and other native plants. Please join in if you like. You can write a blog post or share your favorite wildflower on social media. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers.

 

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Enemion biternatum

Welcome to  Clay and Limestone and the Wildflower Wednesday celebration of a sweet little spring ephemeral wildflower.

Enemion biternatum is lovely with delicate columbine like leaves and small white flowers. Small bees collect the pollen  and flies feed on it, but, they would search fruitlessly for nectar. It hasn't any nectaries.

It's been growing under an oak tree in my garden since before I moved here (that would be almost 40 years ago). The foliage appears in late winter, carpeting the ground, then the flowers open and the first of the  pollinators visit to  pollinate. It dies back in mid-summer making it a true spring ephemeral.

It's also growing in my little pocket wildflower garden under the Ostrya virginiana, which is a lovely understory and underappreciated native tree. Dutchman's Breeches was already growing there and I transplanted Trillium from the way back woodland. I also added toothwort and Spring Beauties that I transplanted from the now disappeared front lawn. Phacelia bipinnatifida, a delightful lilac flowering biennial was added after a friend gave me seedlings. Their dormant roots are sheltered by a large Carya ovata/shag bark hickory during the hot summer months, but, they magically reappear each spring.

Eastern False Rue-anemone, False Rue Anemone or Enemion biternatum is a sweet little Spring ephemeral in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It's native to shady rich or calcereous woods & thickets; floodplain woods and limestone ledges (slightly alkaline soil) and is native to Middle Tennessee. The delicate looking foliage of False Rue Anemone emerges in late winter and makes a beautiful leafy mat that grows about 6 inches high. The flowers, scattered here and there,  emerge as the days warm and the bloom period is at least a month long. It would make a lovely ground cover, but, like all Spring ephemerals, grows, blooms, gets pollinated, sets seed in a short period of time before it fades and retreats back underground.

The white flowers occur individually or in groups of 2-3. The flower is small only about ¾" across, and has 5 petal-like sepals that are white, no petals, several slender stamens with yellow anthers, and a few green pistils in the center. The blooming period occurs during mid-spring and lasts about 3 weeks and if weather isn't too warm there may be flowers for a month.

Source

The pistils are replaced by beaked follicles (seedpods that split open along one side) that individually contain several seeds. You'll have to get down on all fours to see them, but, that's often the best view in a wildflower garden.

The lovely five 'petaled' (sepals) flowers with the showy yellow center stamens would look wonderful planted with Mertensia virginica, Thalictrum thalictroides, Trillium grandiflorum, Trillium cuneatum, Polemonium reptans, Phloxes, Geranium maculatum,  Phacelia bipinnatifida, Euonymus americanus, Philadelphus inodorus and Aesculus pavia. Plant them in rich loamy soil with full to partial sun and before long you'll have a small colony.

xoxogail



The particulars 

Common Name: false rue anemone  

Family: Ranunculaceae

AKA: Isopyrum biternatum

Type: Herbaceous perennial, Ephemeral

Native Range:

 Zone: 3 to 8 

Height: 0.50 to 0.75 feet 

Spread: 0.25 to 0.50 feet 

Bloom Time: March to April 

Bloom: White 

Sun: Part shade 

Water: Medium, rich soil helps

Maintenance: Low 

 

Flower: Showy. Anemone-like flowers (to 1/2" diameter) with 5 petal-like sepals and showy yellow center stamens

Foliage: Columbine like leaves

Habitat: open wooded slopes, river flood plains, rich woods and thickets. Colonizes

Wildlife value: Bees collect pollen, while fly visitors feed on pollen. Various beetles also feed on the pollen. Some of these insects probably search in vain for nectar, as the flowers lack nectaries. 

Comments: My favorite is from Missouri Department of Conservation: "This flower is often confused with (true) rue anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides. That species, however, has only bracts on the flowering stems (not complete leaves); it often has more than 5 sepals, which are sometimes pinkish; it is usually only found singly; and it prefers wooded slopes to moist bottomlands. False rue anemone and "true" rue anemone present a bit of difficulty for the budding naturalist, but meeting the challenge of learning how to identify the two similar plants helps us understand botany, and our world, better. Most members of this family are toxic, so be careful and don't eat it.

 

Wildflower Wednesday is about sharing wildflowers from your part of the world. Don't worry if you have nothing in bloom, you can still showcase one of your favorites. It doesn't matter if we sometimes show the same plants; how they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. I hope you join the celebration...It's always the fourth Wednesd

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Virginia Bluebells

Mertensia virginica is in gorgeous bloom in natural areas all around middle Tennessee.**

It's hard to believe, but, this is one wildflower not in my garden. Once upon a time there was a small, but, lovely stand that made me smile every spring. A dozen years ago we reworked the front garden path. We made it wider, built a small wall and had the workers place a beautiful boulder a few feet from the new path. It wasn't until the following spring, when I couldn't find any blooming Virginia bluebells that I realized that the boulder was sitting on top of them.

Look at that blue and pink! I know you'll agree with me, that's it's long past time to bring these beauties back to Clay and Limestone.

In the meantime, here's our March Wildflower Wednesday star.

I adore their water-colored beauty. The pink buds transition to shades of blue, with touches of lavender as they open. The nodding bells are perfectly complimented by the gray green leaves and stems (technically pendulate spiral-shaped cymes).

source: Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man)

Mertensia virginica is a member of the Boraginaceae (Borage) family. Wildflowers in this family are most often blue, mauve, pink or purple, and many of them change from reddish to blue as the flowers age. The leaves of most species in this family are hairy, and some of them can cause uncomfortable skin irritation if they are handled repeatedly. Although, Virginia bluebells share the color changing flower characteristic with other Borage family members, their leaves, stems and flowers are not hairy. The genus name Mertensia is in honor of the German botanist Franz Karl Mertens (1764-1831).

Creekside at Taylor Hollow

They thrive in moist, woodland soil, damp river bottomlands and clearings in shaded forests. They're native to most of eastern North America.

A long-lived perennial, Virginia bluebells expands slowly to form beautiful clumps that return year after year. They're ephemerals and emerge early each spring, taking advantage of the rich, moist soil and full sunlight streaming through the bare branches of the deciduous trees. In the short period of time before the tree canopy emerges and blocks the sunlight, they must grow, leaf-out, flower, be pollinated, produce seeds and die back (retreat underground).

Amazing isn't it?

 Columbine, anemones, violets and other shade loving natives grow well alongside Virginia bluebells

They will become dormant by midsummer, so use other plants to hide any gaps left behind. Native Christmas ferns, wild ginger, and fall blooming woodland ex-asters make lovely companions. They will also help you identify exactly where the dormant plants are so you don't drop a boulder on them like I did!

Virginia Native Plant Society

Adding Virginia bluebells to your garden is a great way to provide nectar to local pollinators in the early spring. Bumblebees are often seen visiting flowers, and according to the New York Botanical Garden: "our native queen bumblebee serves as the principal pollinator of Virginia bluebells. Because the nectar is at the base of the long, bell-like flowers, bees that do not have a proboscis (tongue) long enough to reach it may take a shortcut and slit the corolla closer to the nectar source to pilfer the nectar. In short, some bees are nectar robbers of Virginia bluebells, which makes them ineffective as pollinators. The flowers are funnel shaped and pollinators must hover making the bumblebee a rare pollinator. It makes more sense that butterflies would be the more common pollinator; they can grasp the edges of the flower petals as they explore (and pollinate) individual flowers.

Dear readers, have you seen pollinators on your Virginia bluebells?

Source

The Particulars

Mertensia virginica
Virginia Bluebells
Borage family (Boraginaceae)
Type: Perennial, spring ephemeral
Zone: 4, 5, 6, 7
Range: Eastern US and Canada; NY & s. Ont. to e. MN, s. to NC, AR & e. KS; naturalized northeastward

Spring ephemeral: emerges in late winter, yellows and disappears by June/July

Source

Blooms: March through April
Habitat: moist bottomlands, clearings in moist woodlands
Flower:Terminal clusters of pendulous, trumpet-shaped pink, blue flowers

Source

Size: They grow 18 inches tall and spread
Soil: moist, well drained soil, that's slightly acidic to neutral
Water: moist soil essential
Wildlife value: Faunal Associations: The flowers are cross-pollinated by long-tongued bees primarily, including honeybees, bumblebees, Anthophorid bees (Anthophora spp., Synhalonia spp.), and mason bees (Osmia spp.); these insects obtain nectar and/or collect pollen. Other visitors of the flowers include the Giant Bee Fly (Bombylius major), butterflies, skippers, and Sphinx moths, including a hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe). This group of visitors suck nectar from the flowers. Halictid bees and Syrphid flies sometimes visit the flowers, but they are too small in size to be effective pollinators. In some areas, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird has been observed to visit the flowers. White-Tailed Deer browse on the foliage occasionally during the spring. When this plant forms large colonies, it provides protective cover for many kinds of wildlife during the spring

Thank you for stopping by Clay and Limestone to see our March Wildflower Wednesday star. Virginia bluebells may be the most popular of all spring flowers and can be found in many gardens. It's easy to grow, providing you give it well drained, moist soil and there my friends is the rub for many of us.

I wish you all a peace filled spring and may your gardens bring you happiness and a respite from all that's happening.

xoxogail

** Most of these photos were taken at Taylor Hollow or at Edwin Warner Park on hikes and strolls and I hope they showcase this beautiful wildflower.


Wildflower Wednesday is about sharing wildflowers from your part of the world. Don't worry if you have nothing in bloom, you can still showcase one of your favorites. You don't have to write anything, just share your wildflowers. The native plants I've chosen are adapted to the environment and conditions at Clay and Limestone and provide food, nesting and/or shelter for mammals, reptiles, birds and insects. Humans seem to appreciate it, too.  It doesn't matter if we sometimes show the same plants; how they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. I hope you join the celebration...It's always the fourth Wednesday of the month!



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Ostrya virginiana is still dancing in the garden

Can you see the dancer in the tree?

I do.

She's still there, dancing in the tree all year round. It's been forever ago that I first saw her; so long ago that I can no longer remember when. What I do remember is saving this beauty from an invasive Japanese Wisteria that was strangling it as it climbed snake like up the tree. It could have been my imagination, but, I know the tree breathed a sigh of relief when the wisteria was cut away.

Since that time the American hophornbeam has been a lovely year round beauty in the garden.

The golden colored fall leaves she was wearing have turned a crispy brown.

 But, she's still beautiful to me. It's a gem of a tree with year round good looks that don't disappear in winter. You just have to look up to see the Dancer in the Tree reaching for the sky. She's lost her high kicking limbs, but, she's still there.

 As it ages the branches become irregular and have a beautiful layered grace to them.

It's a lovely small tree, that I would miss terribly if it weren't here. My goal has been to provide habitat for critters in a visually attractive space and Ostrya virginiana brings grace, beauty, while providing for wildlife.

Ostrya virginiana also provides shade for wildflowers and mosses to grow. Each spring when the sun warms the soil,  Trilliums, false rue anemones, spring beauties, toothworts and other spring ephemeral blooms crowd the woodland floor beneath her skirt.

Ostrya virginiana is a naturally occurring understory tree in dry woodlands like Clay and Limestone and it's planted itself among the oaks and shagbark hickories that populate my garden. I can see it as a specimen along walks, in parks and of course, in a naturalized or woodland garden like mine. It's small, rarely growing taller then 30 feet or so. An easy tree that thrives in the dry mesic soil. It doesn't mind rocky slopes or ridges; it's very shade tolerate, which makes it a perfect small tree to thrive under canopy trees in established yards. It isn't bothered by most insects or fungal diseases. It has both male and female flowers (monoecious), so, it needs no pollinators, just the wind.

But, just because it doesn't need pollinators, doesn't mean it has little wildlife value. Like many native trees it's the preferred food for the caterpillars of several dozen moths and birds and animals rely on Hop Hornbeam as a source of food. These species include the Ruffed Grouse (buds, catkins), Downy Woodpecker (seeds), and Purple Finch (seeds). Among mammals, the Fox Squirrel, Red Squirrel, Woodland Deer Mouse, and White-Footed Mouse eat the seeds and buds, while the White-Tailed Deer browses sparingly on the twigs and leaves. (Illinois wildflowers)

Hophornbeam is a native of the eastern half of the US and Canada; including most of the Midwestern states and Texas. It has has serrated leaves that resemble an elm. The stems are very slender, giving the tree a fine textured appearance during the winter season. The fall foliage turns a most becoming yellow....and when the wind blows they flutter and bounce a golden light around the garden. Sometimes the coppery brown leaves stay the entire winter accenting the textured bark and twisted and knobby trunk.

The Particulars
Ostrya virginiana
Common Name: eastern hop hornbeam or American hophornbeam
Type: Tree
Family: Betulaceae
Native Range: Cape Breton, Ontario to Minnesota, and Eastern North America, south to Texas and Florida; Mexico and Central America.
Zone: 3 to 9
Growth habit: Somewhat pyramidal when young, usually rounded or oval later. Has many horizontal or drooping branches.
Height: 25.00 to 40.00 feet
Spread: 20.00 to 30.00 feet
Bark:

This tree has interesting reddish brown bark that is broken into narrow strips that are loose at both ends. The bark does peel off in places, but, don't worry, it's okay.
Bloom Time: April
Flower and fruit: Monoecious

female flowers

Female catkins are visible in April.

Male catkins

 Male catkins are usually about 1 inch long, grouped in threes and visible throughout the winter.

Fruits are nutlets enclosed in "hop-like" pale green, papery capsules.

Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Reproduction: The woody root system produces no vegetative offsets; this tree reproduces by reseeding itself into new areas.
Suggested Use: Shade Tree, Street Tree
Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Clay Soil
Comments: American hophornbeam, which loves hilly areas,

has papery capsules containing nuts that are eaten by a variety of wildlife including grouse, bobwhite, deer, pheasant, rabbit and turkey. This tree has interesting reddish brown bark that is broken into narrow strips that are loose at both ends. Young American hophornbeam trees look a great deal like sweet birch (Betula lenta). In the wild, this tree provides shade for wildflowers and mosses.  Its wood is very hard and is sometimes used to make tool handles. The tree has light brown heartwood and thick, white sapwood.

Hophornbeams are totally under appreciated native trees that would be lovely in our gardens, if only we knew about them! You aren't going to find them at your local garden center, so you will have to search the internet or native plant nurseries. Trust me, this little understory woodland tree is worth the trouble to find.
xoxogail

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday. This year, I am especially grateful for the health and well being of my family; for loving and supportive friends; for rain that finally fell in Middle Tennessee; for wildflowers that bloomed no matter how horrid the weather has been and for the trees that shade my garden and add to the beauty that surrounds our home. Thank you all for joining me this year to share and celebrate the wonderful wildflowers that live and thrive in our gardens. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, you can still share them.  Please leave a comment and add your name to Mr Linky so others can pop over to see your Wildflower Wednesday post.



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: White Trout Lily

Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday and a celebration of one of my favorite spring ephemerals, the White Trout Lily.

Erythoniums is a genus of Eurasian and North American plants in the lily family. Of the nearly 25 species found in North America (mostly in western USA)  only 4 are found in Tennessee.  Those are: Erythronium rostratum, Erythronium umbilicatum, Erythronium americanum and Erythronium albidum.  Erythronium americanum, the yellow flowered trout lily (above) and E albidum the white flowered trout lily, are both found growing in Davidson county, TN where I live. The yellow flowered seems to be more abundant and on a recent walk I spotted them in bloom at the Warner Parks.

 I feel so lucky to have found White Trout Lilies growing in my garden. I've seen small colonies in nearby woodlands and in a neighbors small sloped side yard. Of course, I hoped the flowers would be white not yellow. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved the yellows, but, there's something extra special about these sweet white flowers.

When mature they gain a second basal leaf with a flower growing from the top of a long stem.

E albidum grows into large colonies with a lot of immature leaves and just a few flowering plants. My neighbor's colony is large and has at least a dozen blooming flowers this year.

My colony is much smaller, but is growing a bit larger every year. I have one flower this year. In fact, I've never had more than one at a time, but, I remain patient. According to research at Friends of Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden only 1% of the White Trout Lily colony flowers at one time. That's not many, but, imagine how lovely it would look if the colony was large enough to cover a forest floor.

From Prairie Moon Nursery

Isn't she lovely.

 The white six petaled flowers curve backward with the the bright yellow stamens nodding downwards. The inside of the flower’s petals are white, and the back of the petals are a mix of soft gray, brown, pink, and blue colors. It's been suggested that the nodding flowers might discourage nectar robbers from stealing the nectar without pollinating it. A practice that makes sense when you consider that this ephemeral has a short time to bloom, get pollinated, go to seed and go dormant.

White Trout Lily is commonly found in moist to mesic deciduous hardwood forests/woodlands from southern Ontario to Texas and much of the eastern USA except North and South Carolina. As hinted above, spring ephemerals have a lot to do in a short period of time and a steady winter diet of sunshine is an essential for their survival in a woodland.

Andrena erythronii bees are oligolectic bee on Trout lilies

Like other spring ephemerals, White Trout Lilies are a vital food source for pollinators at a time when there is little food available. The flowers are primarily pollinated by both long-tongued and short-tongued bees, including honeybees, mason bees, cuckoo bees, digger bees, Halictid bees and  Halictus. The bees suck nectar from the flowers; honeybees and short-tongued bees also collect pollen or nectar and ants feed on the elaiosome that surrounds some seeds. Their thick, fleshy, nutrient and carbohydrate rich corms, roots and tubers are especially attractive to white footed mice, chipmunks and voles. (source)

I am happy to have found them in my garden. I try to keep them safe from voles, mice and deer. A few years ago the small colony that I was so proud of was decimated by voles. They are bouncing back, especially, after I planted a flowering plant I found at a wildflower sale. It was pollinated and seeds were spread. That one planted flower is blooming again and if it gets pollinated there will be more seed to help the colony spread.

WTL also spreads vegetatively~The underground roots bud off new plants. So let's hope that the ants will spread the seeds and in only a few seasons, my small colony will be larger with a chance of more than one flower. Fingers crossed.

Before I go, here's some really cool info: It's been hypothesized by R Muller (1978) that spring ephemerals like White Trout Lilies have an additional important job besides providing food for pollinators. They take up nutrients like nitrogen and potassium in their roots, leaves and stems that would wash away in spring rains or melts and as they die back they release these "saved" nutrients back into the soil for vigorously growing plants to use. This is referred to as vernal dam hypothesis.

So know that when you add spring ephemerals like WTL into your garden, you are giving goodness back into your plant communities, while getting some beautiful flowers! That's a darn good bargain.
Now, let's all get out there and look for spring ephemerals!
xooxogail

The particulars

Lily family (Liliaceae)
Common name: White trout lily, white fawn lily, white dogtooth violet.
Botanical name: Erythronium albidum
Type: Perennial herbaceous, spring ephemeral. In the short period of time before the tree canopy emerges and blocks the sunlight, ephemerals like trout lilies, must grow, leaf-out, flower, be pollinated and produce seeds. This is called the epigeous or above ground growth phase. Once they fade they enter the hypogeous, or below ground growth phase when roots and buds are busy developing. 
Flower: White with a yellow base; bell shaped; early spring.
Foliage: Tulip-like and green with silvery markings, appearing singly or in pairs at the base of the flower stem. Looks like speckled trout and that is how it got one of its common names. Foliage dies back during summer.
Habit: Low-growing ground cover, 4 to 8 inches tall. Grows from corms (bulb-like underground storage stem) and slowly spreads to form large colonies.
Season: Early spring.
Range: Woods and prairies from southern Ontario through the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest to eastern Texas.
Cultivation: Grow in partial to full shade, in moist humus-rich soil. Prefers dappled sun in spring (important that it gets enough sun in spring) and heavier shade in summer. If available plant corms in fall. Do not dig from woodlands. If a friend wants to share be aware that the corms can be more than a foot underground.
Comments: Early spring bloom; ease of care if conditions are right; naturalizes in shade.



Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday.  This day is about sharing wildflowers and other native plants no matter where one gardens~the UK, tropical Florida, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, India or the coldest reaches of Canada. It doesn't matter if your WW star of the month is blooming or not, after all it's winter for many of you. It doesn't matter if we sometimes share the same plants; how they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. Leave a comment and a link with Mr. Linky.



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.