I always have mixed feelings about buying those trilliums- they are collected from the wild, and such activity is criminal. Tried to point it out to managers of the stores- nope, nobody cares...even sent letter to Lowes corporation... OTOH- they are already collected and if we do not buy them they will die and I could do great job of making sure they survive and grow in my garden. So yes, I have bought some in the past and have them growing in my garden. I pot them up and keep on the cool side until it is time to plant them outside which could be as soon as soil is workable.

I should add that 1st year seedlings only have one leaf. It will take about 3 years to produce a flower.

Wisconsitom: Imagine my hand smacking to my forehead. Of course! We do have deer, but we only see them way at the back of our property, and even that infrequently. They do cross our street sometimes, but about a "block" down or so. There are so many better places so close - hundreds of acres of wooded recreation land. (Which is really cool for us humans, too.) I'm still confused about why it used to be so much more sparse with the woody undergrowth if it's deer, though. I'll read up and see if the deer population has changed in the area. In my recent reading on woodlands, I saw a photo online of a place where folks had fenced off to keep deer out a year or a few before. It was enlightening. As far as wildlife, after I went to bed a few nights ago, my husband heard 2 fishers having a fight or trying to scare each other off right behind our house. If you've ever heard a fisher, you know how disturbing they sound. But I guess I'm happy our woodland and surrounds is supporting all local wildlife. My son & I saw a red spotted newt near the new walkway only a few days after it was installed, and I was so glad things weren't so disrupted it scared everybody away. Queen Gardener - I'd love to start trading. But I feel like I don't have anything useful to trade. I have oodles of seeds (who doesn't?), but a lot of them are getting old. I should have harvested some seeds from the plants I do have so I could get started trading. Next year, I guess. I agree, E-bay does have good prices if you can find the reputable people.

The stems won't root, however the bulb (corm) remaining in the ground should send up a new shoot in the spring. The plant may be a little smaller next year but since this happened late in the year it shouldn't suffer too much. If you want to try growing some from seed you just need to clean the flesh from the seed and direct sow into the garden. Many sources say it takes two years for them to come up, but in my experience you can get some that send up a small leaf the first year.