Fritillaria 2019/20 season

[Steve Garvie]

Fritillaria armena



Fritillaria zagrica



Fritillaria straussii



Fritillaria aurea BATM 371. I suspect that this is a wild hybrid rather than pure aurea.



Fritillaria aurea -The stem rapidly lengthens with rising temperatures.

[Ophrys]

Due to the warm weather this winter and spring, the Fritillarias are very early this year. The beautiful Fritillaria strausii (it has subtle beauty) is the second Fritillaria this year here.

[annew]

At last I have some flowers on Fritillaria davidii! I've selfed the flowers, but don't know if it is self-fertile.

[colin e]

Outside of the greenhouse, I have been trying some odd planting of Fritillaria in grass at the front of our house. This came about because we found that we had a small population of Pyramidal orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) (now over 140 plants). So the decision was made to manage the grass there for them. This means no cutting of the grass when they are in growth and to make it look more pleasing we have put a lot of spring bulbs into it. So I had to put some Fritillaria in. I used a lot of small bulbs I had left after repotting or bulbs not needed in the greenhouse. Fritillaria meleagris, Fritillaria pontica, Fritillaria acmopetala and Fritillaria elwesii have flowered every year of the last four. In fact Fritillaria elwesii does better for me in the grass (picture below) than in a pot. In total there are ten flowering clumps. One that had one flower the following spring after planting and no more till this year is Fritillaria davisii (picture below in the grass and greenhouse). So far this year we have had flowers from five of the clumps. Another one that went in was Fritillaria kotschyana and until this year had not flowered in the grass, but this year it has (pictured below). Sorry it is not very good - I thought I would wait a day to get a better picture but the slugs had a different idea. Also this year I have seen in a number of places in the grass clusters of leaves that could be Fritillaria kotschyana; time will tell. The last picture is a pot of it I have in the greenhouse. I will probably try some more species in the grass as these have made it to flowering size, but it is getting hard to miss existing bulbs when planting.

Colin

[Maggi Young]

Cracking  idea, Colin -  I like  it!

[annew]

Outside of the greenhouse, I have been trying some odd planting of Fritillaria in grass at the front of our house. This came about because we found that we had a small population of Pyramidal orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) (now over 140 plants). So the decision was made to manage the grass there for them. This means no cutting of the grass when they are in growth and to make it look more pleasing we have put a lot of spring bulbs into it. So I had to put some Fritillaria in. I used a lot of small bulbs I had left after repotting or bulbs not needed in the greenhouse. Fritillaria meleagris, Fritillaria pontica, Fritillaria acmopetala and Fritillaria elwesii have flowered every year of the last four. In fact Fritillaria elwesii does better for me in the grass (picture below) than in a pot. In total there are ten flowering clumps. One that had one flower the following spring after planting and no more till this year is Fritillaria davisii (picture below in the grass and greenhouse). So far this year we have had flowers from five of the clumps. Another one that went in was Fritillaria kotschyana and until this year had not flowered in the grass, but this year it has (pictured below). Sorry it is not very good - I thought I would wait a day to get a better picture but the slugs had a different idea. Also this year I have seen in a number of places in the grass clusters of leaves that could be Fritillaria kotschyana; time will tell. The last picture is a pot of it I have in the greenhouse. I will probably try some more species in the grass as these have made it to flowering size, but it is getting hard to miss existing bulbs when planting.

Colin

Lovely idea - how big were the bulbs you planted and how did you plant them (poke a hole/ drop in, or plant as you would in a border)? I have a lot of F. meleagris I want to put in our grassy area.

[colin e]

Anne the bulbs varied in size from flowering size right down to rice. For the bigger ones we dug a hole to put them in. For the smaller ones, we opened a slit with a trowel, dropped them along it and pressed shut.

Colin

[annew]

Anne the bulbs varied in size from flowering size right down to rice. For the bigger ones we dug a hole to put them in. For the smaller ones, we opened a slit with a trowel, dropped them along it and pressed shut.

Colin

Thanks, I'll do the same in summer. The 'lawn' is like a water bed at present.

[colin e]

All five pictures are of Fritillaria kittaniae the first three are seedlings off plants I grew from JJA seed. I was pleased that the bicolour was still present in them so often they can be plane yellow from seed. Which is still nice but I still prefer the bicolour pattern. The last two pictures are again seed raised plants but I got the seed under a different name and after a few name changes I think they have settled with kittaniae and they have strong bicolour markings.

Colin

[colin e]

Just a few picture of two plants that were due to go to a cancel show yesterday. The first three pictures are of Fritillaria eastwoodiae, the fourth picture is Fritillaria purdyi. The last one is a not very spectacular Fritillaria recurva except it is a pot of seedling sown in September 2017! I did not think any would flower for at least one more year.

Colin

[Rob-Rah]

Amazing - are you able to post your cultivation regime for the east west-coast ones?

[Maggi Young]

Amazing - are you able to post your cultivation regime for the east-coast ones?

Did you mean west  coast  frits, Rob-Rah?

[Rob-Rah]

Did you mean west  coast  frits, Rob-Rah?

Yes! Oregon and all that.... sorry.

[PaulFlowers]

A beautifully scented fritillaria frankiorum

[PaulFlowers]

Fritillaria Montana