By MIKE RALEY WPTF Weekend Gardener
Many of us have various and sundry lilies in our landscapes. There are “Tiger,” “Crinum,” “Asiatic” and many more types of lilies that are not native. There are also many native lilies including the “Trout Lily” or “c,” also known as an “Adder’s Tongue.” Grown from a bulb and blooms from February into March, then it goes dormant. They are ephemeral, a ten dollar word you may or may not know means short lived. The bloom that is. I have never grown one or a colony of them. I hope I shall at some point. Some of my friends tell me it’s the first sign of spring for them. A crocus sighting does it for me.
Of course, I had never seen one in the wild until recently. On a visit to the North Carolina Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill, my friend Stephen Keith, the Director of Development and I took a short hike to mountain habitat. We approached a bog and you could hear hundreds of frogs croaking. We got to a certain spot and all of them stopped in unison. When we moved past the same spot on our way out, they started up again. It was a sidesplitting moment. Anyway, Stephen took me to a spot where we could see a “Trout Lily.” I’m glad I didn’t bet with him because he was right. We did and it was truly splendid! Just one was blooming. It had six petals, three were mostly yellow with a bit of maroon striping. The other petals were a light maroon color with yellow edges. The leaves were mottled green of two or three shades.
The name “Trout Lily” comes from one’s view that it might resemble trout skin or a trout speeding through the water. I’m afraid I don’t possess such an imagination. All-in-all, it was an impressive specimen that I was lucky to view in Chapel Hill. You may grow by seed if you are patient. It normally takes around five years to see a bloom using this method.
While it may be a bit difficult to replicate the NC Botanical Gardens mountain habitat in your landscape, “Trout Lily” needs shade around here in the hotter months and some sun in the cooler months. I suppose that is part shade. It likes what the folks at the NCBG refer to as moist, humus-rich woodland soil, ideally under deciduous trees. Plant your bulbs in the autumn months about 3 to 4 inches deep. That’s where the part-shade comes in. If you have that in your landscape, well, lucky you! You won’t see the “Trout Lily” most of the year. You can expect the rhizomes, and roots from this remarkable bulb to move through the soil and form colonies.
You will find it growing in the wild along streams and pond banks. They will do well in rock gardens too. You may find that the Trout Lily will attract some of the bees and other pollinators if they are flying near on a late winter day.
“Trout Lilies” are said to have medicinal qualities with antibiotic or anti-inflammatory properties. These plants were used by tribes of native Americans and others through the centuries.
Next time you go fishing for a unique plant with subtle qualities and a real conversation piece, look no further than the ancient, fugacious “Trout Lily.”