While crazy enthusiasts like you and me may lust for a pot of jack-in-the-pulpit, most weekend gardeners do not even notice its absence or even its presence — in their quest for hostas and geraniums.
Times are changing, thankfully. Good nurseries are making significant inroads against this problem, and to be sure, I don't blame commercial producers or retailers: it is as much a problem of market demand (in truth, there are simply not enough of us) as it is of production (many wildflowers are hard to domesticate — propagation and growing time are both issues). While crazy enthusiasts like you and me may lust for a pot of jack-in-the-pulpit, most weekend gardeners do not even notice its absence or even its presence — in their quest for hostas and geraniums. The dream of recreating a hillside of trilliums or a meadow of liatris rapidly morphs into hunting for three or four for the Armitage garden. Those of us who would like to recreate a population of mayapples can always try, but unless one empties the college fund, we often start with a colony of one. Time and patience, not brains or money, are the true necessities if wildflower bounty is wanted in the garden.