fritillarias start blooming

I love this family, I find all of them very fascinating. I've tried many types, but only one seems to like my garden and that is Fritillaria meleagris.
Would like to share some pictures I took today:

Fritillaria meleagris 'alba'

Lovely little bulbs aren't they. I have a little native Fritillaria pudica that is blooming right now. I'd post a pic but my camera is broken. Have you tried growing F. persica? I would think that this would perform well in your area.

Ally_ut,
found a picture of your fritilaria pudica in the plant files, its a lovely one, very special colours!

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/71004/index.html

I had Fritillaria persica some years ago, but it didn't come back the next year after a wet winter, suppose the bulb had rotten away.
I've planted two new ones of the white variety two years ago, on a little hill, so they get better drainage, they are coming up but it doesn't look like they are going to make flowers. I'll have to exercise patience for another year.

I'm growing persica this year, and it looks good so far. F. pudica- most have not come up yet, and the one that did blasted its flower. Ahving spend much time slecting a location for it, I will try a different supplier next autumn.

Meleagris is very reliable.

None of my F. imperialis seem not to want to bloom this year, and I'm getting low flowering on several others this year.
Others are yet leaves, like F. camschatsensis.

F. thunbergii

James, thanks for sharing your pictures!
Very charming that F.thunbergii, its a subtle beauty and I like its graceful foliage.
Tried a couple of times the F.imperialis but never had success.

Thank you, this is F. thunbergii last year. It simply is not blooming as much this year.

The graceful leaves are why I was first attracted to it- some leaf tips curl into tendrils.

Also love that beautiful shade grey-green of the foliage!
Gracefulness is one of the attractive qualities of the Fritillari family.

F. thunbergii is beauty! I love the delicate colours and pattern showing through the petals, they remind me of Tiffany lamps without gaud.

My F graeca disappeared last year, this year it's growing several new stems as though it has split, it's still in a pot in the greenhouse. Another in a pot hadn't moved last I looked, I don't remember it's name as it disappeared last year too!

I grew F. persica from seed, had around 10 but I left the pot out over winter, 5 have regrown, of course still very small.

I had one F. meleagris grow at the top of the bank under the tree edge one year, it flowered and never returned, haven't a clue how it got there. I think they grow well in grass, I believe I read that somewhere.

My F imperialis rubra, first year, grown in the greenhouse. K, yours might have flowers yet, mine looked much like that for a start.

Took this yesterday, 2 of the 4 flowers had opened and they are huge! See those white blobs at the top? Shake the flower and they wobble! They are liquid drops hanging like eggs, and quite large. I wonder if it has to do with pollination, perhaps it's a nectar to attract insects which have to brush past the pollen.

I know these pics give the impression we have sun, it shone for a while well after 4pm yesterday, with temps at 5 or 6C in the mist, seems to be a habit lately but if the sun breaks out it's warm!

Got an error, so expect two posts!

Hello,
I also love Fritillaria. Thank you for sharing beautiful pictures! This is my Fritillaria verticillata. It is easy to cultivate for this famly. They are standing to support each other by their tendrils:) I also have a F.camtschatcensis. It will flower in May. Fritillarias are sensitive to high-temperature so they don't grow well in my area.

Hi Goldenfish, another beautiflul Frittilaria! Nature is very clever, F. verticillata looks very similar to F. thunbergii, both with tendrils!

I have heard F. camschatcensis can be shy to flower, does yours flower well? It is one I have wanted (amongst many!), perhaps next year I will get it.

Your F. imperialis are tripping Wallaby, I must try them again! They really deserve their name! What a heart-warming orange tones and then these fine drawings of the veins. Do they need full sun ?

Goldenfish your Fritillaria verticillata indeed look very similar to the F. thunbergii, the same gracefulness and subtlety.

Beautiful pictures! I love the orange color of your F. imperials Wallaby. I may finally have to give in a try a few of those. JamesCo and Goldenfish your F. thunbergii and F. verticillata are wonderful. I love the light airy feel of the foliage. I'm not familiar with either of these varieties. I have three varieties of Fritillaria seed in pots now and am hoping to get a few to germinate. I'm trying F. montana, F. pinardii and F. ruthenica. Of these the only one I really know anything about is the F. montana. Can anyone tell me about how long it will take to achieve bloom from seed on these varieties?

I can hardly wait to see my F. meleagris bloom, but that won't be for a couple more weeks. I ordered a little point and click camera and it finally showed up. Here are a couple of the F. pudica blooming now. They are rather diminuitive in stature but that's probably a good thing as this heavy wet snow we received last night would have flattened them if they were any taller.

MIne is in a greenhouse with glass panes missing, so plenty of fresh air but it does get protection. It's at the south side where the sun hits the greenhouse most, but it doesn't get much sun, first the sun has to shine!

The leaves have an onion odor which I don't mind, but now it's flowering it seems to be not as strong, and it has been sort of enclosed. I had a close sniff and could detect a herb smell too, perhaps a little like an Italian herb mix.

I was amazed that the liquid drops didn't fall when I shook them!

A better view of the drops

Gosh Ally, that is gob-smackingly beautiful! If it does well in that snow it should do well here in our cold, I have often looked at it and been tempted. Now it's definitely on the list! Great shot too!

I don't know how long Frits will take from seed, but mine are still small after a late Feb 05 sowing!

Just checked my other while I looked at the date, graeca is actually acmopetala, the other is F. caucasica which I think did flower in it's first year, one forgets after 2 years!

Hi wallaby1,
Certainly, F. camschatcensis is little grumpy. It flowers every year but isn't increasing at all. I've heard that thin sugared water make a difference though, I've never tried yet.
Anyway your F. imperialis rubra is really cool! looked at it admiringly!

Ally_ut, your F.pudica is lovely, maybe these can vary but it looks different than the one in the plant files, not in shape but in colour and drawing.
Would be nice if you could ad yours to the plant files.



[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]

James, the picture of last years F. thunbergii is breathtaking. Your right, I like its graceful appearance.

goldenfish, The verticillata is very nice looking also.

walla, I tried the imperials and the perisca several years ago, they did not come back the next year.

I grow 3; Fritillaria meleagris, Fritillaria uva-vulpis, Fritillaria michailowskyi


All 3 are very easy to grow and come back each year. However, they do not bloom here till the middle of April.

Here is a picture of my Fritillaria michailowskyi from last year.

Next is a picture of Fritillaria meleagris from 2006

The link didn't work, hope this one does.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/71004/index.html

And Fritillaria uva-vulpis spreads. I've given away a lot of these. I do like them.

Does anyone grow Fritillaria acmopetala?
These look so interesting.

goldenfish I will have to grow F camschatcensis, and try to teach it to be willing!

toofewanimals, I too tried F. persica Adiyaman, in a very well drained spot where it dried in summer, and deep. It grew leaves one year, disappeared the next. I read that the straight species does better, that's why I'm trying them from seed I got from VanDusen Botanical garden. At least if they survive as young plants they should survive as adults.

F imperialis will be kept under cover, and if it survives and multiplies I will try some outside, I don't know if they multiply or set seed on their own but I will find out. It was a cheap bulb and one has to try!

I have F acmopetala, it flowered in the first year 05, did nothing last year, now has several growths. I am hopeful! The flower didn't quite have the interesting colouring, 'Wendelboi' is supposed to be better, but they show us great pics. It's possibly variable, they say it does increase well.

http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/AsianFritillaria

Bonitin I noticed the variation in the markings/drawings on mine as opposed to those in Plantfiles as well. I actually uploaded my picture there before I posted on this thread. Most of the pictures I've seen of F. pudica are closer to the coloring seen on those in my photo. But as you say, I'm sure there is a bit of variation. I purchased my bulbs from VanEnglen.

Wallaby, I don't believe that cold weather is as much an issue with F. pudica as is 'wet' soil. I actually have these bulbs planted beneath Artemisia tridentata and in the same garden that I grow various cold hardy cacti and Agave. I'd love to see pictures of your F. caucasica when it blooms.

Toofewanimals, love your F. michailowskyi. I almost orders some of these last fall. Wish I would have now.

I feel like I'm in heaven, there weren't many (if any) Fritillaria lovers in DG last year! TooFew, you have an awesome F. michailovsky colony. It is my favourite species.

F. verticillata and thunbergii are pretty much the same thing. I have not found out what is supposed to be their difference, many sources say that one is a subspecies of the other.
F. pudica is the only Fritillaria native to the mid- Rockies, it apparently occurs in a small part of Colorado. The rest of the north american species are along the West coast. Ally, your F. pudica is a heart-throb, I bought mine from (VanEnglen) too, and they were not the greatest bulbs, but looked viable. Some of them are growing, but I don't expect flowers this year.

I grow acmopetala, It is not blooming quite yet, and it is one of the most graceful ones, even when the flowers are not open... it makes my spine tingle thinking of it....

F. camschatcensis is a truly black fellow, it is the latest blooming Frit, I think. I look forward to comparing our specimens if mine blooms, Goldenfish, as it is a variable plant.

I've read that from seed, frits take three to five years (in really good conditions) to bloom from seed, but I've not seen it myself.

The plant I'm most excited to see is F. biflora 'Martha Roderick.' My plants are budded and looking good, I hope I can keep the slugs off of them, they've chewed my potted one up a bit.
K. James

I'm thrilled with my frit. persicas so far this year. I put in 5 bulbs & they've all come up, tho' one has slightly deformed flower head. I also have frit. meleagris coming up & the return of uva-vulpis that was planted in fall 05.

The first persica bulbs I planted, in the fall of 05, got waterlogged and bruised. When I planted these five last fall, I put a handfull of pea gravel underneath each to try & improve the drainage. Guess I'll know if it works if they come back next year!
Pat

Happy Spring! Can someone please tell me why my Frittilaria Persica did not bloom last year and how I can hopefully prevent that this year? I love the way they looks when sprouting out of the soil like an artichoke. The bulbs were planted fall 2005 and have multiplied this year and I hope they will bloom! Thanks, Abby

I think F persica (and others) can just be sulky abby, but it does require a hot, sunny place.

Once the flowers have finished it's often a good idea to start feeding any bulbs which need to bulk and have a heavy flower set with a high potash fertiliser. Tomato food might be good, I use that occasionally for callas. Leaf mould added to your compost is always good for bulbs too.

Read this article, the translation is fun!

http://www.gardening.eu/plants/Bulbs/Fritillaria-persica/2437/

James, I would love to see a picture of your F. acmopetala when it blooms. You made me very curious!

Lovely persicas, you have there goshmom!

Abbyday, I haven't been lucky with F. persica because I guess I cannot offer it enough sun. It makes foliage but no blooms and it always is leaning like reaching for more light.

Hello,
I have fritillarias up and I never grew these before so could you tell me if these little flowers ever open up? Mine all are facing down... Thanks and sorry for the stupid question.. If you dont know I have to ask.. they are very pretty and I love all the colors everyone has...
Susan

now that makes it clear to me, Wallaby, that I should give up on the persica! Funny translation indeed!
I guess my 'English' must also often sound funny!

I'll give it away to someone who can offer it better conditions. Mine are from the white variety of the Persica.

Susan, as far as I know; all Fritillarias have facing-down flowers. What type is yours. A picture would be very helpfull!

Going out to get you a picture.... I have no idea what kind they are ... I am very new to all this...LOL
Susan

Ok here is a picture of mine.. Don't mind the muchrooms for I have no idea why they are growing like weeds in this one bed..
Susan