Moving Trillium catesbaei

13 years ago

I have, I think, catesbaei trilliums all over my back yard (cliff, slope, whatever). I want to move them to a designated area while I'm figuring out what I'm going to do with my yard. I figure it's probably not a good idea to tromp on them while I'm in the figuring out phase.

My questions are ---

Should I put them in the very sandy area that drains well at the top of my lot?

Should I put them in the clay that drains moderately well?

Should I put them in areas that receive runoff (I doubt it but I dunno anything about these guys)?

Should the soil be lean or rich? I have plenty of organic matter to add to the soil, clay, sand if needed.

I'm hoping shade is fine because that's pretty much all I have available.

Do I really need a bazillion of these things?

ATM I'm simply trying to identify and plant the plants that I can identify together until later. That gives me time to figure out what all the green stuff is that is growing here. I am new to GA and have no idea what most of the plants, vines, weeds, whatever are.

Now these guys may not be catesbaei but it was just the closest trillium that I could find that looks like my flowers. Most aren't in bloom yet (if they are even old enough this year) but there is one by the driveway that is and it looks like all the others so I'm "assuming" here.

Thanks

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Comments (2)

Iris GW
13 years ago
Trilliums are very special plants indeed - and a nice plant to share with others if you should feel that you have too many! Georgia leads the southeast with 22 different species. Trillium catesbaei is pretty common in the metro area. Another similar looking one is T. rugelii but it usually has purple stamens while T. catesbaei has yellow.

They can be relocated and are not that hard to do so. Since they are "ephemeral", they disappear when it gets hot. So relocating them now or just after they finish blooming would be best.

They do like moist organic soil, so try for something between "sandy" and "hard clay". They don't want to be too wet; in the wild they are often on slopes because that is well drained.

Georgia Native Plant Society is a good resource for "wild" plants. We have a discussion board that you can join and post pictures for identification. If you have trillium then you probably have some other special things as well.

Welcome to Georgia!

Here is a link that might be useful: Georgia Native Plant Society
maryrecord
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the info Esh. Mine have yellow stamens. The yard itself is pretty wild. I think the woods behind are trying to reclaim it. It was a garden at one time because I've found plant labels and other gardening stuff out there.

I cant post pics because I still haven't found my camera from the move from there to here. LOL

What I have managed to identify (just if anyone cares or not)

Possible natives

-The above mentioned trillium
-Solomon's Seal (unknown species)
-Penstemon (a small purple type again unknown species)
-Marginal Woodfern
-Partridge Berry (the ground cover thing)
-Wild Geranium of some sort

People planted

-Hosta seedlings not the parents just babies
-Heleborus (never can remember how to spell it)
-Iris
-Ivy (I don't really like ivy but I got it) and many other ground cover rambling type plants.
-Azalea (duh it is GA afterall)
-Aucuba japonica
-Forsythia

Everything else is a big green blur right now. There's some rampaging vines, baby trees, a few shruby type things that are small and I'm not sure if they are shrubs or perennials, or weeds.

Thanks for the link to gnps. I've looked at their site before and have used some of their pics for IDing. They don't have enough though.

I've thought about taking a ride out to the Georgia State Botanical Gardens to see what things look like and using them to ID the stuff that is not in flower right now. It's just down the street and over a bit. I could probably even find it by myself.
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