Trillium

These flowers turn outward on bent stems, showing their faces proudly in the partly to fully shaded border. One of the most charming of native Trillium, T. flexipes offers very long-lasting blooms that continue from spring into summer, followed by showy red to purple berries. This plant is lovely in the shade border or in fine containers, returning for many years to show off its unusual beauty.

The flowers are pure white, 2 to 3 inches wide, and held out flat with recurved edges and nicely prominent veins. A small flush of creamy-chartreuse in the center of the bloom reveals the yellow anthers. But the most interesting aspect is that unlike other Trillium, they do not dangle among the foliage nor stare heavenward; their 1 1/2- to 5-inch stems are bent just before the base of the bloom, so that the flowers look outward!

Like many Trillium, these blooms are very long-lasting, beginning in mid-spring and persisting into summer. Their substantial thickness gives them good weather resistance, and they keep their fresh white color very well. When they finally do pass, they are followed by deep red to purple fruit that continues the show through summer.

T. flexipes reaches anywhere from 8 to 20 inches high and 12 to 15 inches wide. Native to the woodlands of the eastern coast and as far west as Arkansas and Missouri, it thrives in moist, well-enriched soil on the alkaline side, and prefers at least partial shade. This is a fine large planting for the shade border, an accent planting in small groups throughout the garden, or a subject for your very best containers.

- Wayside Gardens (link here)

I have never tried to grow Trillium, but it would be a welcome addition to the garden.