Trout Lilies on a Sunday Morning, photo by farlane>

FYI, the photo that was featured here was removed, so here’s one of mine…

A good friend was telling me about trout lilies the other day as we walked through the woods. She said that they only bloom every 17 years, something I have been unable to find anything about online. If anyone has more info on this, please post a comment. I’ve been told it’s 7 years, and there seems to be support for that.

This great Wild About Gardening feature on the trout lily (Erythronium americanum) says that the name is is derived from the resemblance of its mottled leaves to the coloring on brook trout. This 4-10″ tall wildflower is one of the earliest to bloom in Michigan and is also known as Adder’s Tongue and Dogtooth Violet:

This is a plant that relies more on the spreading abilities of its underground root system (corms) than on seed production from its flowers. In fact, it takes a few years for a plant to be mature enough to produce a flower and seeds. Trout lilies have recruited the help of ants, who eat a nutritious appendage attached to each seed and leave the rest to germinate. If you wish to propagate your trout lilies from seed, you will want to follow nature’s lead, at least as far as temperature is concerned. Keep your seeds moist and give them a few months of warm followed by a few months of cold, similar to the seeds falling on the ground at the beginning of summer and receiving the summer warmth and winter cold before sprouting the following spring. Wildflowers sometimes stagger their germination over several years, so you might want to sow a few extra seeds to avoid disappointment.

These plants will naturally spread by forming vast colonies. Some wild colonies are reputed to be as old as the trees around them — two or three hundred years! Despite its ability to spread, the trout lily is not considered an aggressive spreader but rather a delight to have in one’s garden.

You can see this larger right here or in Robert’s slideshow. Even more in Flickr’s Michigan Trout Lily slideshow.