Fritillaria 2018

[fermi de Sousa]

I’m looking at F. involucrata, pontica, montana, and whittallii - do these seem reasonable to try? Any others? It’s likely I’ll need to grow them from seed, so I’d appreciate any opinions, cautions, or suggestions before I begin!

Hi Kelly,
if you haven't already joined SRGC or AGS or NARGS it would be a good idea; the Seed Exchanges usually have a good range of seed of Fritillaria (as well as other little treasures) - I've grown a few from them over the years
cheers
fermi

[bibliofloris]

Thanks for sharing those suggestiong, Hannelore! F. michailovski and uva-vulpis are occasionally available in my area, too, so it’s great to hear they can take some shade. My trees in that area leaf around April (northern hemisphere) and I’m not sure which fritillaries will still be above ground then. Have you tried any of them yet in your spot? Any luck?

And thanks for the connection, Maggi — I’ll keep an eye on what John is offering! There are a few companies who sell some fritillaries, so maybe I can try a few while I wait for the rest to grow...

Yes, Fermi, I’m an SRGC member, starting to put my wish list together! I actually love growing from seed, and the range of what’s been offered in past years is amazing. I just try to make sure I have the right conditions before I grow a whole pot full of something.

[Maggi Young]

From Laurence Hill of  Fritillaria Icones :
Phylogenetic analyses reveal the Chinese medical plant “Beimu” Fritillaria ebeiensis as a separate species http://www.fritillariaicones.com/info/news/news_2018/Wei_et_al_2018.html

[colin e]

The season has started and my Fritillaria davidii are in growth.I am still learning how best to manage them down here in Somerset. I think what I did with them this year looks like it was the correct place to have them in the summer. They have not liked either of the places I have put them before. It was easier when we were still in Wraysbury; I knew where they had to go to get them to flower (it is not always were you want them!).
As our night time temperatures are due to be under 10c for the next two weeks so I have given all my pots their first watering. I had already rearranged all of them to where they will be for the 2018/19 season. The usual culprits had live roots out of their pots even before watering and being in dry potting mix (walujewii, tortifolia and chitralensis).
I have also sown all my own Fritillaria seed and also those that came too late to sow last year. They are all outside for two weeks before going into the fridge. I was not supposed to be sowing many this year, but I have still managed more than 40 pots!     
Let’s all hope for a good growing year after this hot dry summer.

Colin

[Maggi Young]

Laurence Hill  of Fritillaria Icones  gives notice of this paper ....
New Open Access Paper: Functional Diversity of Nectary Structure and Nectar Composition in the Genus Fritillaria (Liliaceae) by Roguz et al. 2018 http://www.fritillariaicones.com/…/ne…/Roguz_et_al_2018.html

 Laurence  writes : Laurence manages the membership, moderators, settings and posts for Fritillaria Group of the Alpine Garden Society.
Thanks to Colin Everett for Fritillaria material this research was able to cover a broader spectrum of the genus.

[fermi de Sousa]

Fritillaria messanensis ssp messanensis Mt Kedros from Marcus Harvey 2002  (thanks to Yann for correction of the name of the Mountain!)
cheers
fermi

[colin e]

Continuing on from my post 22/09/18. Yes we did have night time temperatures under 10c for two weeks. Although it has felt very mild and forecasts have given minimum temperatures well into double figures, the highest minimum I have recorded in our garden is 11c, and that for only one night. However maximum daytime temperatures have been well above 20c quite often, so I do not know what time of year the bulbs think it is. That said, I know quite a few bulbs have started and got good root growth as I currently have 77 pot with live roots out of the bottom. Of the 77 pots, 33 of them are long toms so the bulbs in these pots have already got a decent length of root. I like to get good root growth because I work on the principle that with good roots you have a better chance of getting good bulbs. 
The seeds sown on the 20 of September went into the fridge on the 6 of October and I will need to keep an eye on them from the start of November. I had some seeds arrive in early October which, although getting a bit late for my preferred sowing time, is not too late so I sowed them on the 9 of October and they are still outside but will go into the fridge in the next seven days.     

Colin

[colin e]

Things have definitely moved on down here in Somerset. My count of pots with live roots out of the bottom is now running at 195. I have not quite made it to 50% of my pots yet but most of the pots without roots out are those I would not expect to have them yet. The usual culprits have growth above the potting mix and some above the gravel topping. The most advanced is of course Fritillaria karelinii, one pictured below. Most of the others are either ones in the Rhinopetalum group or Fritillaria from the USA. With one exception: Fritillaria persica OP213063 being grown from seed. They germinated and had emerged above the gravel on 06/11/17. This year they were above the gravel on 06/11/18 it will be interesting to see when they make it above the gravel in 2019.
I went through this year’s pots of seed that are in the fridge properly for the first time this year and found 12 pots that had germinated, 4 of which had also emerged above the gravel.

Colin

[Maggi Young]

The most advanced is of course Fritillaria karelinii

Crumbs!  Buds so well developed  already!!

[colin e]

Just an update on the Fritillaria karelinii pictured yesterday.

Colin

[David Nicholson]

Very nice Colin.