bonitin--
This is from Janis Ruksans book on growing F eduardii so this is Latvia growing conditions.
"In my opinion F eduardii which grows in Tajikistan, is the best species of this group (the group is the related F raddeana, F imperialis, F eduardii, and F chitralensis ). Because of its similarity to F imperialis, most botonists long regarded the name as a synonym. Attitudes changed though, as it is recognized that these are clearly two seperate species and are quite different. F eduardii is the largest species, a true aristocrat among the other crown imperials. In the garden (that's outside in Latvia) it opens much earlier than F imperialis, at the same time as F raddeana. Its flowers are larger, more open, and more side oriented, not pendant. The greatest advantage is it lacks the unpleasant odor so characteristic of F imperialis. You would never think of plugging your nose around a large group of F eduardii, as you would with F imperialis on a sunny day. But nothing is perfect, of course, and F eduardii doesn't increase vegetatively. It sets sedd well, but you have to wait 7 years until the seedlings finally produce flowers. Although this plants flowering ends when F imperialis has just begun, some overlapping occurs and both can hybridize, so it is better to plant them some distance from each other if you plan to gather seeds. F eduardii forms bulbs of incredible size, up to 20 cm in diameter, and is surprisingly resistant to night frosts. On many occasions I have seen the stems and flowers lying on the ground in the morning, only to find them rising up by midday as temperatures increase. F raddeana is resistant in the same way. All my stock of F eduardii was collected from a side gorge in Varzob Valley. These plants come from a variable population, with flowers ranging from almost yellow to orange-red."
