Anemones are usually great for attracting caterpillars/moths/butterflies and they are beautiful...I'd def. add them! The bluebells, trilliums, ginger and bloodroot should all do well together! I think, however, that Lily of the Valley is an introduced species and though I have no experience w/it, I've read that it is invasive...so not so sure about that!

Sounds as if you are creating a beautiful woodland patch!

The Lily-of-the-Valley was transplanted from elsewhere in the yard...so if it was going to spread into the lawn, it would have. It *is* very aggressive....it filled the flower bed it's in. I'm hoping the native bulbs will do their thing before it springs up, and I'm only experimenting with it in one of the two mulch patches. I've hear different accounts as to it's invasive status...it is either a plant that comes in both North American and European varieties or an invasive introduced a very long time ago.
The other thing I'm worrying about is the ferns. And is "Anemone quinquifolia" showy enough to be worth it?

So the consensus is that the Lily-of-the-Valley will clobber the trillium? I was hoping the bulbs would do their thing before the Lily-of-the-Valley sprouted.

What about the other bed, which has ferns? Should I pull the ferns out to give the Mayapple and trillium a chance?

Well, mayapple is itself quite capable of forming large colonies. And I'm a fern lover. So I guess that if it was my situation, I'd try to work those three together for a while and see what happens. Just my $0.02.

+oM

I live in Denmark, well within the native area of C. majalis and have it in my garden. It does indeed form a very dense network of roots which will easily clobber your Triliums.

However - some plants actually go well with C. majalis. At least two species of Anemone, Anemone nemorosa grows in the wild here in Denmark and also Anemone sylvestris. Also different species of Narcissus and tulips will do well with C. majalis. Just be sure always to pick sturdy varieties.