FRITILLARIA 2015

[Steve Garvie]

Deep-fried Frits

A few central Asian species currently growing on the arids steppes of West Fife:


Fritillaria ariana ex Afghanistan


Fritillaria gibbosa


Fritillaria karelinii ex Usbekistan


Fritillaria karelinii ex Tajikistan


Fritillaria karelinii ex Tajikistan

[johnralphcarpenter]

I am totally in awe at your photography. I may never pick up a camera again.

[ArnoldT]

I agree.  Just superb images.

[udo]

There the air stays away to me, really marvellous pictures, Steve   

[Cyril L]

As usual Steve, superb photographs.

The white Fritillary stenanthera is not so common in cultivation.  I have grown these from seeds but not all plants come out white.

[Steve Garvie]

A nice-looking stenanthera Cyril!
I have a couple of white rhinopetalum in flower that I need to post to get an ID on.

Here is a mugshot of Frit. gibbosa -the flowers of which have matured into a nice deep rose colour:

[papapoly]

Excellent photography on a beautiful flower Steve.

Several years ago I grew frits from seed, both from wild origin and garden sedd (AGS).  Whatever frit survived I placed in one pot only.

three frits:

pic 0042: frit sp (from wild sedd) Iran in the foreground, frit hermonis amana in the center and frit kittaniae in the background
pics 0044 and 0046: same pot from other angle. Iran sp on the left, fr. kittaniae on the right (two bulbs)

George

[Karaba]

Fritillaria sewerzowii is now close to the end...

[Lesley Cox]

Sorry to be cynical Steve, but are all those frits REALLY those colours? So rich and dark?

[Maggi Young]

Are your white rhinopetalums  in flower now, Steve?

[ian mcenery]

Here is a small frit growing in the garden. It survives but doesn't multiply very quickly

Fritillaria latifolia

[johnstephen29]

Fritillaries Meleagris flowering here at the moment, bought them from a local nursery when they were just above the soil. Not as showery as some of the others on here, but a beautiful plant nonetheless.

Fritillaria Meleagris by johnstephen29, on Flickr

[Steve Garvie]

Sorry to be cynical Steve, but are all those frits REALLY those colours? So rich and dark?

You have every right to be cynical Lesley.
Whilst these Frit photographs weren't photoshopped or the flowers hand-painted the images were taken during the "Golden Hour". The Golden Hour is a period shortly after sunrise or before sunset where the daylight has a warmer quality to the ambient light creating much richer reds and golds. During this time the sun is lower in the sky resulting in an attractive warm side-lighting which, in this case illuminated the face of the flowers without harsh shadows. This effect enhances both the richness of warm colours (but not blue/cyan) and the fine detail.

Essentially this is playing with light. It can be used effectively in wildlife photography -for instance in highlighting the beautiful amber eyes of a cheetah (not easily seen in the harsh overhead light of noon) or the attractive pattern of a Masai Giraffe.





There is also a "Blue Hour" where cold blue light predominates -almost to the exclusion of reds. This occurs in the short period before sunrise and in the twilight after sunset. The effect can be quite interesting (Yellow Fever tree forest around Kenya's Lake Nakuru):


The "Blue Hour" is also an interesting time to photograph crocus (assuming the flowers stay open long enough):



Whilst the effects of using light in this fashion can produce attractive images it is not always a true representation of the plants as normally seen.

Are your white rhinopetalums  in flower now, Steve?

I'll try to post some images at the weekend Maggi.

[Steve Garvie]

Are your white rhinopetalums  in flower now, Steve?

The white Rhinopetalums came from Jan Jilek. I have three different types. One looks identical to the Fritillaria buccharica that I grow but the other two types look different:

White Rhinopetalum sp.1:




White Rhinopetalum sp.2:

.....and a macro image of the flower in sunlight:

[Maggi Young]

They're lovely, Steve, thanks for the photos .