There is only one species of Mayapple native to the US and GA, Podophyllum peltatum.
The ones I grow were collected during GNPS rescues at sites in the Metro area.
I have had best success growing them in lightly ammendended clay soil, with several hours of morning sun. They required a couple of years to become established and then began to spread at an exponential rate.
Rb

Here is a link that might be useful: Mayapple

i currently have a series of approximately 10-12 of them growing on a shaded slope on the north side of my house that gets (at most) half hour of evening sun with absolutely zero hours of morning sun. the soil is good 'ol GA clay with a little bit of additional matter added in (nothing special, some bulk 'clean' dirt we picked up). i literally never water this particular section of yard. my oak loaf hydrangeas and paper bushes, autumn ferns, boston ferns seem to do well in the same area, so it most hold some moisture well.

in fact, I didn't know what the heck they were until i made this post with pictures over at the 'name that plant' forum.

suffice to say, i say "give it a shot". from reading at 'name that plant' forum, if you can manage to get them started and they like the area, they'll come back year after year (but they don't like heat very much).

thanks, so does anyone know where I can get some? Are they hard to get established? Would I be better off to wait till fall? Or maybe next spring when I can plant them a little earlier?

Mine were planted by a friend who also picked them up from a GNPS plant rescue here in metro ATL. I have never seen them in stores. I can't tell you what it takes to get them established, but I can tell you this: Almost every native plant we've put on that side of the yard was planted and died off within (literally) 8-10 weeks, so I assumed they just didn't make it. There were literally only 3-4 last year, this year I have almost a dozen that sprouted up.

All I can say is, find out when your the next GNPS plant trade is near you and try that route to source them, get them in the ground ASAP, and keep your fingers crossed ;)

I've seen them for sale recently at Lady Slippers or Lost Mountain Nursery. I can't remember which one, but you could call them and ask. Lost Mtn. has many different native woodland plants that I don't see at other nurseries.(Trillium, Wild Ginger, etc.,...)

Everywhere I've ever seen mayapple, it's been a fairly moist environment. So make sure wherever you choose, it's not too dry there.

Kathyga.........

You might try this company for Mayapples and many other Eastern Natives.

ViolaValleyWildflowers

They are rated in the Top 30 companies by Dave's GardenWatchDog.

They ship bareroot, but that's ok for Mayapples and most other Native plants. Just plant them in your selected location when received.
They sell in quanities of 5 per item, but prices are very good.
Be aware that these plants are likely wild collected from private property or with a state issued permit, from public construction sites(road widening, relocation, new construction and others).
Good luck!
Rb

I have bought lots of stuff from Viola Valley and highly recommend them!

GGG

I found Mayapples several years ago at Habershams, and have them growing near ferns, hydrangeas and mahonia in an area with dappled shade (through limbed up pines) and a bit of morning sun. The soil is somewhat damp as the area is at the back of my yard near a lake.

has anyone had any luck with propogating mayapples from the seed pod? i believe mine have already flowered (it was so fast, i must've missed it ...)

from what i gather, you remove the seed pod, dry it out, split it open and plant the seed(s) in the your desired location after the heat of summer has passed. not sure how accurate this info is, or how to tend to it once in the ground.

Be careful. While they are a nice oddity to have, they will shoot up in places where you don't want them. We built our house 10 years ago on a golf course outside of Savannah. There were thousands of them growing on vacant lots. It took me quite a long time to get rid of them in my yard, as I found them to be a nuisance. My soil is sandy, and they seem to grow best in full sun. Butterflies love them.