Tiff, this is one of those times you're going to wish you had fresh seed, because those would germinate in just a few weeks with no chill :) I made a huge mistake when buying plants on site at the former Heronswood - they were so expensive, I purchased ONE of some, and the flowers come male or female...no ripe seed! Gotta open my wallet and shop somewhere again this year, spice up their dating/mating life. Dried stored seed can take a few months (you'll want to soak 24 hrs minimum before sowing, even if WS), and germination is sporadic/erratic, about the time you give up on more, another seed will germinate. You aren't likely to have any significant growth the first year, a. consanguineum needs to form a tuber before it shows much above soil that you can appreciate. I think you should plan on keeping the seedlings in pots at least the first year so choose your container/depth accordingly, or you could pot up individually later. This is a GREAT plant though, so I hope you get good germination and lots of seedlings. With your taste in plants, do you have a copy of The Explorer's Garden, Hinkley? Lots of interesting propagation notes and cultural information, I think you'd really enjoy the book.

I had poor success planting Jacks from nursery stock (only one of four survived) but I think starting them from seed is going to be more successful. I read that the seeds will germinate after the fruits decompose, because a chemical in the fruit inhibits germination. So last summer, I cut a ripe red seed head from a friend's garden. I left it in a cool spot outdoors until the fruits started to soften and decompose, then I broke t hem up and scattered them around my woodland garden. This summer I noticed at least a dozen seedlings that look promising -- same 'look' as mature Jack leaflets, but only a single heart-shaped leaf rather than the familiar triple leaf. Can anyone confirm (or at least encourage) my suspicion that these leaflets are baby Jacks that will be back next spring?

I don't know about Trilliums, but jacks CAN skip a year, though it is usual. The corms would still be firm though. You received these in May? I wonder if rather than sending you dormant plants ready to sprout in 2016 that the vendor took 2016 plants, removed the foliage and shipped. If that is the case they will not sprout until 2017 anyway. I love our native jack and have it here and there in my suburban garden, where it slowly spreads and sometimes appears in surprising places as seed gets spread around. Conditions here are "average". It certainly seems adaptable and can take some drying in midsummer where it generally dies down anyway. I have a couple Trilliums but they have not done as well for me.......persisted and bloomed for many years but not really increased in size much.

Re Trillium: Have had several clumps T. grandiflorum and T. erectum (local trilliums) growing in our garden for maybe ten years. I tend to have planted them at the back of the mixed perennial beds, in part, so I won't disturb them. We water the whole garden as required. Looking at the trilliums in the local woodlot; you don't see them in waterlogged areas (e.g. where there are seasonal ponds), but rather on the likely well draining slopes in the dappled sunlight before the woods leaf over. The literature seems to confirm the need for drainage; however, surely ground waterlogged, for a few hours, doesn't matter.