Miscellaneous spring bulbs

[David Sellars]

Children's paintings of Fritillaria gentneri are posted in almost every shop window in the town of Jacksonville.  Some are very creative as shown in the second photo below.  I was delighted that each painting has "Fritillaria" written on it rather than the common name used hereabouts: Red Bells.

[cohan]

Stunning plant! Kudos to whomever in the community/schools is getting those children to be aware of the wildflower 

[Tony Willis]

Here is Fritillaria gentneri flowering today in the magnificent hilltop cemetery in historic Jacksonville in southern Oregon.

That is beautiful. We passed through there this time two years ago in complete ignorance, if only we knew what we don't know.

[David Sellars]

Tony:

Today we discovered even more delights in Jacksonville.  The Jacksonville Woodlands Association has managed to preserve a necklace of open space around the town.  There is an extensive trail system with an excellent map.

http://www.jvwoodlands.org/images/map.pdf

There are lots of Fritillaria gentneri in the woodlands and the more common Fritillaria recurva.  It is interesting to compare the two as they are closely related.  Dodecatheon hendersonii carpets the ground and we also found Trillium albidum.

Here are the two Fritillaria in the Jacksonville woods:

[Tony Willis]

David they are really lovely. We did see Fritillaria recurva at McArthur -Burney Falls between Shasta and Lassen Volcanic Park it is a fine plant and Trillium albidum out from Crescent City but we are we ever satisfied!! We shall be there again at the end of June to see a different selection of plants.

[Hoy]

These frits really are magnifique! Anybody growing them in the garden?
I have read that American frits are difficult to grow in the garden. Is that so?

[McDonough]

David, you are creating such plant LUST with those awesome red fritillaries, absolutely stunning.  I have always wondered why these brilliant frits are not more often grown.  Not sure how hardy they will be in colder winter climates, but one can dream.  From 2003, I have this tiny little sprig of F. eastwoodiae which I got from Jane McGary.  Every year it comes up and makes a brief wispy show of vegetation, then goes dormant.  This year, finally, it is budded.  The whole thing is about 3-4" tall so far, I wonder if I have it in the wrong sort of situation, do you know what F. eastwoodiae wants?  Here's a not-so-good photo, the thing is so skinny that it is hard for the camera to focus.

[Todd Boland]

I can't even grow Asian frits, let along American ones...only F. meleagris is reliable here.

[McDonough]

I can't even grow Asian frits, let along American ones...only F. meleagris is reliable here.

Todd, at least F. meleagris is one of the best.... I love it.  There must be some other more moisture tolerant or moisture loving species that would be okay in your cool and moist climate.  Back to F. meleagris, ever notice how it takes a bow before standing upright to present its plump checkered bells?  May I present my meager little plant of F. meleagris




By the way, I too agree that it is wonderful to see some early education, appreciation and respect for native flora, thanks for showing us those drawings David, they brought a smile to my face.

[Lori S.]

I can't even grow Asian frits, let along American ones...only F. meleagris is reliable here.

I am miserable at growing fritillarias, but aside from F. meleagris, F. pallidiflora does well here in regular conditions.  Just out of curiosity, have you tried that one, Todd?

[McDonough]

Some arum species which might be of interest,
Arum rupicola  which is one of the 'flag' group widespread across Turkey
Arum balansanum a rare species from NW turkey
Arum sp from the same area and may be a larger version
Arum conophalloides var virescens  another of the 'flag' group from SW Turkey and adjacent Iran and a side view to show the exterior colouring

Tony, cool aroids... do they smell bad?  I like how your cold frame glass pane has to be open otherwise these puppies wouldn't fit!  I love Arisaema, but haven't yet succeeded with other aroid sorts.... tried a few Arums and Biarums from Mike Salmon seed years ago, but nothing successful developed with these.

[RickR]

I can't even grow Asian frits, let along American ones...only F. meleagris is reliable here.

I am very surprised that Fritillaria camschatcensis doesn't grow for you, Todd.  It seems to love the wet in the wild. 

I have not started F. meleagris from seed, but F. pallidiflora, after F. camschatcensis, is the easiest from seed so far.  Although, neither have flowered yet - probably next year.  (I have no wet areas on my land, but F. camschatcensis that I have from bulbs do fine in my wettest part.)

Glad you mentioned the "bowing" characteristic of F. meleagris, Mark.  I had wondered if it was just my plants.  Both regular and the white forms do it.

[McDonough]

Glad you mentioned the "bowing" characteristic of F. meleagris, Mark.  I had wondered if it was just my plants.  Both regular and the white forms do it.

Oh, glad to hear others noticed this too... one of those little things that makes plants so fun and unique, these quirky little habits.  I think I shall start calling it the "Polite Fritilllary".  Pictures of the plant in flower always show such straight up perky looking plants, but maybe the "other" common name for this plant; Snake's Head Fritillary, versus the more common Guinea-hen Flower, refers to the plant in early bud.

[David Sellars]

you are creating such plant LUST with those awesome red fritillaries

Lust is the right word Mark.  If only they would grow like that in the garden we would be satiated.
We hear a lot about Asian frits that require packhorse expeditions to reach and not so much about the stunning North American species that are a few minutes walk from a coffee shop or even gracing a Rest Area off I5.  I have not yet tried to grow Fritillaria recurva but I would not expect it to do well in our wet climate.  The only Frits we grow in the open garden are F. meleagris and F. acmopetala. Both do very well here.
I will have to try F. pallidiflora as you suggest.  F. camschatcensis grows in the wild in the Fraser River delta a few km from here and I have some coming from seed.  They should do well in wetter areas of our garden.

[stephenb]

The same ones grow best here: meleagris, pallidiflora, acmopetala and camschatcensis. Here's a few pictrures

1. F. acmopetala and camschatcensis (with Camassia quamash)
2. F. pallidiflora (almost weedy - have tried to remove it a couple of times in one place and it still comes back!)
3-4. An unknown, planted as F. cirrhosa - any ideas?

Just noticed that F. involucrata seedlings planted out last year have re-emerged!