Hello,

If you find a forest area that is being developed and has Trilliums growing on it, you can carefully collect the ripe seeds in summer and plant them in suitable habitat. Make sure to get the landowners permission, appropriate collection permits ( Dept of Natural Resources) and permission of the landowner where you will plant them before you start. Remember, these are protected plants in Michigan and many other states.

Propagation from seed takes 3-5 years; after cooling over winter the planted seed first breaks dormancy and grows a small rhizome under ground, then develops leaves the second and third years, and finally, when the rhizome is big enough, the flower appears the third, fourth, or fifth year. 

Here is what one Extension horticulturalist says—-

“Trilliums produce fleshy seeds that are highly prized by ants that carry them off to eat the sweet aril attached to the seed coat. This ant dispersal mechanism is called myrmecochory - literally ant farming - and is an example of mutualism where both species benefit from the exchange. To ensure a compact colony of the species I grow, I simply remove the seeds from the capsule and plant them around the base of the original plant. First flowers usually occur on these seedlings in about 5 years.

By: Gerald Klingaman, retired ,Extension Horticulturist - Ornamentals”

Here are some Extension resources for you-

http://chemung.cce.cornell.edu/resources/trilliums

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=trgr4

http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/miland_jenn/reproduction.htm

https://www.psu.edu/dept/nkbiology/naturetrail/speciespages/trillium.htm

https://floridata.com/Plants/Melanthiaceae/Trillium+grandiflorum/1261

There is some info from native plant societies blogs, but I do not know if it is accurate—

https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Trillium

https://nargs.org/forum/trillium-germination

MSU Extension does not endorse any of the retail services or products that these links may have embedded in them. 

Check your library for books like “The New England Wild Flower Society guide to growing and propagating Wilflowers of the United States and Canada”

by William Cullina. Cullina has some propagation info for Trillium. Waterford MI public library has it.

Enjoy your experimentation with your seeds! Thank you.