Be Brave When Dividing Trilliums

Tricia's Great White Trillium in late April.

Happy National Wildflower Week!

How appropriate is it that today I conquered my fear of dividing a large trillium plant?

My friend and neighbor, Tricia, has been asking me to divide her Great White Trillium for the last month. She's unable to be in her garden at the moment, so the task fell to me.

The trillium, a wildflower found in Connecticut, is a beautiful spring ephemeral. It completes its entire life cycle before the trees leaf out and block the sunlight from reaching the ground. It usually disappears and becomes dormant when the weather gets hot.

Trilliums grow best in shady, rich soil. Their native habitat is woodlands, so try to recreate that type of soil to grow them in your garden. There are many different varieties of trillium but they all share three common characteristics: three leaves, three petals and three sepals.

The plants spread by underground rhizomes and form big clumps. I've divided other plants in the past, but I was really concerned about dividing this plant and inadvertently causing its death. So, I deferred to my gardening idol: Margaret Roach. On her website in a 2012 post, Roach gives the encouragement needed to divide trillium. She recommends a rainy day to do the dividing. It was overcast today when I headed over to Tricia's house with my shovel and pots. That would have to be close enough.

I first dug underneath the plant in a circle. The trillium grows along her house amongst hostas, so it was difficult to dig up the back part of the plant. I decided to just try and separate the rhizomes from the front of the plant instead of excavating the entire trillium. I was able to pull off the front half of the clump away from the mother plant.

This is the remainder of the mother plant that I left in its original spot.

Next, I teased the rhizomes apart from each other. I didn't even need my shovel to do this. They came apart easily in my hands.

I began to separate the rhizomes from the clump. Each piece is a new plant.

I potted up the ones that would be finding new homes and planted my share (a reward for my hard work!) in my garden. I dug a hole about 2 inches deep and placed the rhizome and roots inside. I lightly covered it with soil. At first, I wasn't sure if I should let the top remain exposed as iris rhizomes need to be, but after checking how my little red trillium looked, I decided to cover it up.) The transplants will need some attention until they settle in (for example, not letting the soil dry out). 

If you are like me and are lucky enough to have a generous friend share her gardening spoils with you, great! Otherwise, trilliums can be purchased in reputable garden centers. They should never be taken from the wild.

Learn more about wildflowers blooming in Connecticut now from my previous post.