Trilliums will hold up just fine if they’re transplanted, even after they’ve bloomed.
In the Garden
Q: My neighbor is moving and offered me a beautiful trillium (Trillium chloropetalum ‘Giganteum’) from her garden but it is in full bloom right now. Will I kill it if I transplant it?
A: Trilliums are not only easy to transplant in full bloom, you can divide them while you’re at it. I learned this while procuring plants to sell at the Master Gardener plant sale when a friend allowed me to dig up a huge native Trillium ovatum. I had my doubts about the wisdom of digging up a trillium in full bloom, but I decided it was worth a try.
As I dug the plant, the rootball started falling apart. Because the plant was practically dividing itself, I realized I could make a lot more money for the cause if I divided it and sold the divisions rather than the single plant, so I used my hands to coax the bulbs apart. When I was done, I had 12 rooted bulbs.
Gardening Events
Ciscoe’s Picks
Northwest Horticultural Society presents “Picture Perfect Plant Portraits: Reframe the Way You See a Garden:”
7:15 p.m. (reception at 6:45 p.m.) Wednesday, April 13. Led by professional photographer David Perry. Cost: $5 members, $10 nonmembers. Address: Center for Urban Horticulture, 3501 N.E. 41st St.
Washington State Spring Fair:
April 14-17 (2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday). Plant sales, garden workshops and displays. I will broadcast live Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost: $10 adults with various discounts. Address: Washington State Fair Events Center, 110 9th Ave. S.W., Puyallup.
The Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden Spring Plant Sale:
3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, April 15 (members only from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.); 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 16. Vendors, garden art. Cost: Admission is free with plant sale receipt. Address: The Rhododendron Species Foundation Garden, 2525 S. 336th St., Federal Way.
I kept one and potted up and sold the rest, warning potential buyers that I had no idea if the divisions would survive. That was more than 20 years ago and I still run into people who bought one of the original divisions. In most every case, the trillium thrived and bloomed the following year. The division I kept for myself grows to more than 3 feet tall and wide every spring. Since that time, I’ve successfully divided several other trilliums in full bloom, including the variety in your neighbor’s garden.
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Just make sure there’s a stalk attached to each division, plant them in shady, woodsy sites and water carefully for the first season. Before you know it, you’ll have big, spectacular trilliums blooming away all over your garden.
Q: I have some very large containers on my deck that are completely empty. I am trying to use a lightweight filler in the bottom third so I don’t have to fill the containers with potting soil. Are Styrofoam pellets a good choice?
A: I learned the hard way not to use Styrofoam pellets as filler in the bottom of pots while directing grounds care at Seattle University. No matter how careful you are, all it takes is the slightest puff of wind to disperse those horrible pellets into every garden in the neighborhood.
After trying a number of different items, such as inverted nursery pots and crushed soda cans, with mixed results, the filler I found to work best was plastic water bottles. You don’t need to crush them, just put them in whole to fill the bottom third or so of the container. They work well because they’re light, easy to obtain, nontoxic and have enough space between them to allow the soil to fill in around them, making it easy for deeper-penetrating plant roots to work their way between the bottles into the lower reaches of the pot.
One lesson we learned is to be careful when arranging the bottles. You don’t want them to plug up or block the drain hole when you fill in around them with potting soil. If that happens, the water will back up, the roots will rot, and you’ll be off to the nursery to buy more plants.