Whippoorwhill Flower Common Name: Whippoorwhill Flower Botanical Name: Trillium cuneatum Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art · White Trillium Collection Transcript Read More A LARGE TRILLIUM COLLECTION TRANSCRIPT NARRATOR: The Trillium collection at Crystal Bridges is among the largest and most diverse in the nation. Horticulturalist Cody George discusses the care required in cultivating Trillium and the ongoing development of the museum’s collection. CODY GEORGE: The Trillium collection at Crystal Bridges, we first started in 2011. We first started out with four species, and now we’ve grown to ten different species of Trillium. We have two species that are native to this region of the Ozarks, and the rest of the Trillium collection is native to either the Eastern United States or to the Southeast United States. Our Trillium collection, although it is vast, we still plan on adding a few different species of Trillium to our collection. Of course, these species will be zone hardy and heat hardy to our region so that we can ensure that these plants will grow better. Notes will be taken and we will have some field trials to determine which ones grow better, not only in our region, but in the soil that we have and the climate that we have. A field trial is a part of a bed that is dedicated to a certain type of a plant that we watch over, that we take notes on, and that way we can see with some of these different collections, which ones are more superior in which ones will do better in this climate. [Trillium grandiflorum,] or the white Trillium, is the plant that first caught my eye and really took off my passion for native plants. From seed it takes nine years to bloom. So these are plants that require a lot of attention to detail, attention to the climate, attention to the soil. So they’re quite specific to growing conditions, especially the ones that are not native to the Ozarks. And so they’re just a wonderful addition to a garden because they bloom for a short amount of time in the spring, although some species, they will alter. So we’ve played around with species, so we can start blooming in March and around mid-May, and alternating between different species of Trillium. Whippoorwhill Flower Plant family: Liliaceae Location: Tulip Tree Trail Growing zone: 5-9 Height: 6-12 in. Spread: 12-16 in. Bloom time: March, April, May Leaf type: The leaves are mottled with colors of silver, green, and gray. The leaves are fairly large and reach lengths of 7 in. Garden uses: Whippoorwhill Flower, or Sweet Betsy, is an easy Southeastern United States Trillium that prefers rich woodland soil in full to part-shade. Make sure to mix other non-aggressive woodland wildflowers to counteract this spring ephemeral when it goes summer dormant. Wildlife benefits: Provides shelter for small mammals and amphibians. Ants eat a fleshy substance, known as an elaiosome, off the seeds and help distribute the seeds when taken back to the colony.
