Fritillaria 2012

[bulborum]

Here Fritillaria stenanthera starts flowering
for me still one of the most beautiful ones

Roland

[RickR]

I have F. stenathera year old seedlings just coming up in pots in the last couple days.  

Roland, how old would you say those beauties of yours are?  I don't think I have ever seen such superbly grown specimens!

[bulborum]

They are five years old seedlings
I got them from a Dutch friend

I hope there is plenty of seeds to share this summer

Roland

[Hoy]

Here Fritillaria stenanthera starts flowering
for me still one of the most beautiful ones

Roland

I fully agree! And if you get enough seed . . . . .

[bulborum]

The ones interested in seed
just pm me your address

and I send the seeds this summer (if there are seeds set)

Roland

[Hoy]

Thanks, Roland

[Fermi]

Roland,
this colony of Frits is lovely with the slight variation in colour.
How do you cultivate them?
I've had them germinate before but have never got them to flowering size. What hints can you give?
You already have my address 
cheers
fermi

[bulborum]

Fermi I put you on the list

I grow them in bulb potting-mixture
I will post the mix later

I am not home but in Toulouse for a plant-show
as far as you heart about it
there was a shooting here
but the killer (he killed 6 or 7 people last weeks in Toulouse) is killed today
so everything is save now
and people can save come to the show

Roland

[McDonough]

Roland, awesome F. stenanthera! 

I would be exploring more Frits were it not for lily beetle that are so attracted to them.  I do have a few species, and I keep a watchful eye and hand-pick any lily beetles seen.

Fritillaria pudica is in bloom here, but this year I'm disappointed to discover more than half of my colony has disappeared   In the photo, there's a gap between the flowering plants on the left and right, the plants inbetween are gone.  I also had numerous younger plants from scratched-in-seed, although most of these have disappeared to.  Not sure why the partial loss, the've been happy where they are, seeding and bulking up over the past 10 years.

Left photo:  Fritillaria pudica. In the lower left is the foliage of Tulipa bifloriformis, in the center are Tulipa seedlings (3 year).
Right photo: view of F. pudica and the silvery leaves of T. bifloriformis, the buds have yet to open (that I know of), still waiting for sun, the colony of this small early blooming Tulipa widened quite a bit from sowing seed in situ.




In this photo, at top-center is the foliage (there are buds too, but they can't be seen) of F. crassifolia ssp. kurdica, and in the lower center, is a colony of 2-year old seedlings of that Frit, where I have direct-sown seeds.  I find that sowing seed directly in the garden to be very successful, as one can see from this small thicket of little gray spears, "no fuss no muss" gardening.  In the same bed are many seedlings of crocus species and other choice bulbs.

[RickR]

Fritillaria pudica is in bloom here, but this year I'm disappointed to discover more than half of my colony has disappeared   In the photo, there's a gap between the flowering plants on the left and right, the plants inbetween are gone.  I also had numerous younger plants from scratched-in-seed, although most of these have disappeared to.  Not sure why the partial loss, the've been happy where they are, seeding and bulking up over the past 10 years.

I wonder if Fritillaria spp. have the propensity to skip a season(or more) of above ground growth, like many Lilium spp.?  Even undisturbed, I have had that happen with multiple species of lilies.

[Weiser]

Roland,and Mark
Nice plants!

Here is the reginal form of F. pudica found along the eastern Sierras.

[Lori S.]

Mark, you have such wonders in your garden!  I love the "sow-in-place" philosophy.
F. pudica in nature, with the contrast of snow, is fantastic - the flowers seem to glow.  Excellent photos, John!

[Tim Ingram]

Do you grow anything else with the bulbs Mark? I have a small bed in our lawn which is mainly devoted to bulbs inspired by the bulb walk at Sissinghurst. But it becomes bare in the summer so I have some small later flowering perennials amongst the bulbs. These look pretty special species so I imagine need more space - will be really nice to see how those direct sown colonies develop; I have only done this with snowdrops and it has been very effective.

A few examples on the bulb bed:-

Fritillaria kotschyana
Scilla melaina
Muscari pseudomuscari
Fritillaria elwesii

[McDonough]

John, great photos, and such a compact form, looking very different in growth than mine, beautiful juxtaposed with snow.  I originally got mine as "rice grains" at 10 for $1 from Jane McGary, about 20 rice grains came, quite a bargain and fun to wait 4-5 years to maturity.

I remember finding dwarf plants in full flower in the Wenatchee Mountains, Washington, literally growing in running water (spring snow melt), areas that would be bone dry in a few weeks.  It kept good company, commingling with Olsynium douglasii in various shades of purple and pink.

Tim, many of my bulbs are planted in Hibiscus syriacus "shrub rings", late-to-leaf tap-rooted shrubs that are perfect for underplanting with bulbs. I like the idea of growing small bulbs this way, I enjoy seeing crocus bulk up into floriferous clumps, jumping right out of the soil.  Each year I enlarge the rings a bit to make room for more bulbs and sown-in-place bulb seed  In the summer, when all bulbs are dormant and the dried foliage wisked away, the mulched bed is a simple backdrop for the real focus of the mid-summer to autumn season, the extravaganza of bloom on Hibiscus syriacus (selected single-flowered forms like 'Blue Bird').  A happy combination.

Oh, by the way Tim, Fritillaria elwesii is most elegant the way the flowers are displayed, its been added to my list

[RickR]

Wow John, such healthy and bulked up looking frits!  The color is so vivid!

Tim, your F. elwesii is so artistic: it's like it's not even real...
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Some Fritillaria camschatcensis seedlings, 3 years old I think, are looking nice.  (Once again, I never said I am an attentive grower.)  Seed from the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.