Fritillaria 2018

[colin e]

Some more Fritillaria currently in flower. The first picture is Fritillaria bithynica grown from my own seed sown in 2014. The second is a Fritillaria bucharica grown from seed from Fritillaria Group seed sown in 2002; it was described as ex Razjon village Tadjikstan. It has taken its time to get going with a few ups and downs on the way. Thirdly, Fritillaria meleagroides this was grown from Fritillaria Group seed sown in 2001. Although this is quite a tall Fritillaria I do think the overall shape of the plant is very appealing. I cannot get a reasonable picture of the plant as it is the tall one at the far end in the middle of all the greenery in the fourth picture! Lastly a Fritillaria reuteri JJA 502 450. Jim’s seed list description is Iran, NW of Esfahan. (Extremely local in the Bakhtiari country of the central Zagros range but numerous in a few, seasonally moist, stony meadows at 2500-3000m. Wide mahogany bells, broadly bordered with yellow, not unlike F. michailovskyi but taller & more delicate, both in habit & constitution. Not easy & scarce in cultivation, though several growers have found it takes well to life outside in N Europe. It certainly prefers not being too dried-out in summer.)
 I do find this does have a more pleasing growth habit than my other reuteri which looks a bit untidy.

Colin

[SJW]

Not a lot of use to you in this case, Steve - but  obliqua smells  nice!

I'd usually try and give a flower a sniff to check for scent, Maggi, but didn't this time. I was delicately balanced trying to avoid getting snagged on a group of Euphorbia acanthothamnos - the chicken wire plant!

[ielaba2011]

This is Fritillaria lusitanica, found in central Portugal in the Easter day. This site has many specimen, but some were already finishing flowering. They are very pretty, and somewhat rare to find.

[Maggi Young]

I'd usually try and give a flower a sniff to check for scent, Maggi, but didn't this time. I was delicately balanced trying to avoid getting snagged on a group of Euphorbia acanthothamnos - the chicken wire plant!

The perils of fieldwork!

[Maggi Young]

This is Fritillaria lusitanica, found in central Portugal in the Easter day. This site has many specimen, but some were already finishing flowering. They are very pretty, and somewhat rare to find.

Always a delight to see plants in habitat, Jaime.

[colin e]

Last year I put pictures of this JJA493.310 Fritillaria crassifolia subsp. crassifolia on what was the Fritillaria Group Forum. They were all like the first picture but this year one has flowered and looks like this second picture. 
JJA seed list description: 493.310 Fritillaria crassifolia subsp. crassifolia Turkey W. of Erzincan ex BATM 286 unstable terraced slopes of black stones.
The next two are a couple of RRW crassifolia 92134 and 9325. The last is a seed raised one from Fritillaria Group seed sown in 2010, Fritillaria crassifolia subsp hakkarensis FG 10 25A

Colin

[Steve Garvie]

Just catching up with your posts Colin.

Superb frits, all grown very well. Your Frit. minima is particularly impressive; I find this to be a difficult plant which, like alburyana tries to open its flowers before fully breaking cover.

Your post on crassifolia is interesting -especially as the provenance of your plants is known.
I grow a single clone each of crassifolia ssp. crassifolia and crassifolia ssp. hakkariensis -well that’s what the labels say. Both were bought as adult bulbs and so I have no “provenance papertrail”; perhaps they are not even true crassifolia.

“Crassifolia ssp. crassifolia”


“Crassifolia ssp. hakkariensis”



Fritillaria reuteri


Fritillaria rhodokanakis

[colin e]

Thanks Steve for the compliment. I have to confess I do fined the identification of the whole Fritillaria crassifolia group a bit of a mine field as differences can be interpreted differently of this very variable group by different people.

Colin

[colin e]

I have always had a soft spot for Fritillaria drenovskii and over the years have built up a small collection. The Fritillaria drenovskii strid & al 54375 were seed raised plants from Gothenburg seed. The last one is Fritillaria Group seed and has the odd characteristic of the style protruding from the flower bud. This seems to be a fixed trait for this plant.   

Colin

[Steve Garvie]

Great variation with some lovely forms of Fritillaria drenovskii Colin.

Here some frits have been held back by the cold Spring.
Fritillaria gibbosa -this clone flowered much earlier last year but is more compact in growth this year.



Fritillaria alburyana LST 247 -two different plants; they liked the recent cold Spring.





Fritillaria forbesii



Fritillaria minuta



Fritillaria shikokiana

[Yann]

Colin and Steve this is fantastic, you're skilled growers 

[Steve Garvie]

Many thanks Yann!
On a good day I can take the occasional half-decent plant photograph; however I still have a lot to learn when it comes to cultivation of bulbs and alpines.

[SJW]

Spotted in southern Evia. Would this be Fritillaria ehrhartii or perhaps Fritillaria obliqua (flower angle?).

An update on this. Bob Wallis identified the Evia plant as Fritillaria ehrhartii (in its type locality!)

[colin e]

Thanks Yann for the compliment but the plants do most of the work.

Colin

[johnralphcarpenter]

Nothing rare here, but Fritillara meleagris has established well in the bank at the bottom of the garden.