Fritillaria (II)

Left, F. tubiformis is an alpine grower, usually prefering to be kept cool and moisy. Only a few inches tall it has enormous bells of a satiny purple. Above, the Turkish Fritillaria sibthorpii is similar to a number of small yellow flowered species, but is distinct in a number of ways, including the way the three outer petals are slightly reflexed.

Left, Fritillaria hermonis amana, a variable plant, here in a not particularly distinguished but nonetheless pleasant form. Frits are found across the northern hemisphere. In the old world they are found from Spain, the alps eastwards with a concentration of species in Greece, Turkey and Iran. They extend from there into western Asia, China and Japan. In the New World, particularly California they are found in a profusion of forms and colours. The American Frits have a reputation for being more difficult than the European/Middle Eastern species. Fritillaria recurva below left, looks like a small lily with red orange checkered flowers. This plant was grown from seed, and the youg corms planted deeply in a plastic pot and left undisturbed for a number of years.

The final frit shown here is Fritillaria pluriflora (above right), a pink species from clay meadows, wet and sticky in the spring and baked hard in summer. This would be hard to copy in cultivation so I grow it in a standard gritty compost and never let it dry out entirely in the summer.

For Fritillaria Books, Societies and Suppliers, click here.