Fritillaria 2009

[Gerry Webster]

Cliff - may I suggest you give some of the offsets (& seed, if any) to Ian Young & to Bob & Rannveig Wallis? That way it has a good chance of surviving & being distributed.

[Ragged Robin]

How beautiful your red Frit is Cliff - sending good vibes for its success in its propagation 

[Lesley Cox]

Cliff, I don't think you can do much for a while yet except that if it's still in flower, hand pollinate it a couple of times before it fades. Same clone but better than not trying. When it dies down and is quite dormant, say July/August (F. camschatcensis is not, in my experience, one of the very early rooting species, like say, F. pallidiflora) lift it and assuming there are a number of little hangers on, wipe some (not more than half) off and send these to Ian and the Wallises or whoever, in the UK/Europe. Not more than half because the big bulbs are often reluctant to re-establish if too many of their babies are removed. I sometimes used to take the lot and never saw the parents again.

Just for the record, my "weedy" ones never set seed! Just hundreds of leaflet babies.  

[ranunculus]

Many thanks, Lesley.  Unfortunately the flower faded over ten days ago and, as I had no idea of the potential of this colour form, I didn't give it any special treatment.  Because the past few days have been very warm and sunny the stem, though watered, is wilting already and the plant itself is rather small and now looks a little unloved.  I will take your welcome advice and will investigate below the compost later in the year.  Your name is already on the seed and or rice grain list.

[Regelian]

OK, we have some seed of a very robust, deep red clone of Fr. imperialis.  How does one germinate them?  Do they require stratification? (cold, warm-cold, etc.)  Do they respond to gibberelins?  How long is the germination?

I have germinated other Frits in pots over Winter with success, but these seeds really interest me as the clone grows particularly well in my conditions.

[Sinchets]

I have F.imperialis growing from seed sown in autumn in the usual way no fuss- fresh seed comes up like cress the following spring, but it will be a slow process to flowering size. I have F.raddeana seedlings 5 years old, which are only now making good sized but none flowering stems. My 3year old F.imperialis are still single bladed.

[Regelian]

Thanks, Simon, for the encouraging words!   Should really have known.

[Sinchets]

It's worth doing though, because, as I am sure you know, you never know what might turn up 

[kiwi]

Fritillaria ruthenica, first flower on this bulb.

[Lesley Cox]

At the risk of being a pain - an even worse one than usual - would you please post of picture of the flower Doug, with the complete bits of foliage around and above the flower. I ask because almost everything we have had in NZ as ruthenica is, in fact, montana/orientalis or similar. The way to tell true ruthenica is that the top leaves around the bloom have curly tips, by which they can cling to and climb on, anything around them. I, finally, have the real thing in flower today, a seedling from Vlastimil Pilous seed, 4 years ago. Will try for a picture in the morning.

[Lesley Cox]

Well why wait for morning. Here's mine. The flower is lighter than the image suggests but the curly tips are visible.

[kiwi]

They're curly, but not as much as yours! What do you think?

[Maggi Young]

Some F. ruthenica have curlier tips than others, and the number of tip leaves can vary too.....getting the feeling that little is ever certain in this life?
 Doug's is looking more like a montana for my money.

[Gerry Webster]

Some F. ruthenica have curlier tips than others, and the number of tip leaves can vary too.....getting the feeling that little is ever certain in this life?
 Doug's is looking more like a montana for my money.

I agree that  Doug's looks more like montana. Lesley's looks as though it might be the real thing - very like the plant I had (& lost) some 20 years ago. The tendril-like leaves are similar to those of 'F. verticillata' (of gardens). I remember a very good painting of the real thing in an issue of 'The Plantsman' some years ago; the article was, I think, by Martyn Rix.

When I was editing the Frit Journal I spent a good deal of time trying to find a photo of genuine F. ruthenica without success; all turned to to be montana, 'nigra', 'tenella' or 'orientalis' (so-called). I think the genuine plant is actually quite rare in cultivation.

[Giles]

For Frit folk, I noticed that the current issue of The Plantsman (Vol 8, part 3, Sept '09) has 2 articles that you might be interested in.
One on Iranian Frits by the Wallis's, and one on Frit culture in Seramis by Paul Cumbleton