| 
Discovering Trilliums
Mr. Trillium
(Originally Published March/April 2006)
EVERY SPRING, in a woodland garden near Saginaw, Michigan, masses of white, pink, deep-red and yellow flowers blanket the ground. Some grow with thick, mottled-green leaves while others are light green. Some flowers face skyward, some turn forward and others nod down.
These seemingly unrelated beauties have two things in common: They're all trilliums. And they're under the tender care and keeping of Mr. Trillium himself, Frederick W. Case Jr.
Each spring, during an open house, Fred, clad in gray work pants and shirt, approaches his guests kindly, if a tad wearily. So many people want a bit of his time. At 79, and with a number of health problems, he's not sure how much more time he really has. But the teacher in him-34 years of high school biology-wins out, as always.
"How can I help you?" he asks. Actually, he already has.
Fred, with his late wife, Roberta, wrote a definitive 1997 book, Trilliums. It's been lauded as "the bible for trillium gardeners." His work with trilliums and other wildflowers earned him many honors, including the 2004 Arthur Hoyt Scott Award from Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College for "outstanding national contributions to the science and art of gardening."
Sadly, many Midwest gardeners never have seen trilliums, found blooming in woodlands in early spring (flowering times vary by type and weather).
In Fred's garden, a keen eye could find nearly all 38 species of North American native trilliums, plus numerous hybrids. The flowers, which bloom for about a week, usually peak here during the second week of May. When you see them, it's stunning.
"In the eastern United States, it's the showiest and best known of the woodland wildflowers, and it bursts forth before the leaves are full out on the trees," Fred says. "In cases where there aren't too many deer, it's wall to wall."
