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While only given its proper species status relatively recently we can all be thankful that the original collector circa 1935 got his credit in the end lending us his zippy name, Oosting, and giving us this excellent and avant-garde Trillium found only in a few South Carolina locations. It’s not just the rarity that makes this haute-couture on the Trillium red carpet, though it has that well-covered too. Eschewing the standard Trillium garb of plain reds and whites this bold beauty pairs a bright acid green with a darkly alluring maroon base while the well-dappled leaves prove it knows how to accessorize.

Imagine prizing open the rigid and unrelenting fingers of one Kelly Dodson and wresting from him prized jewels and precious heirlooms. A scenario not far from the one that has finally made this exquisite Central American bulb available to you our beloved customers for whom we endure much separation anxiety and grief. The flowers like little flames must be very akin to the will-o-the-wisps in their native cloud forest, luring unwary travelers to an endless curse of botanical lust. Desirous of moist, well draining mix and not amicable to deep frosts. Bulb at or near flowering size.

Originally collected as Thymus drucei amidst the limestone barrens of County Clare, Ireland by Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy board member Cody Hinchliff. A hotspot of botanical diversity where unique climate and geology combine to create a pocket of delightful rarities often found in higher elevations. These are limited to far Western Europe more generally and have the usual fragrant rounded leaves of Thyme on creeping red stems. The flowers set them apart however being a good bit larger than the foliage and appearing in such quantities as to almost entirely obscure the latter. Forms a small mat or clambering clump.