Blooming here in nCal



Fritillaria are my favorite 'confused with lilies' genus.

I have some Frit uva vulpis blooming. No Frit persica bloom this spring. They all split to two bulbs.

I went out to the garden after I posted the first frit pic and snap a pic of Frit Imperialis rubra.

I believe this is a frit; I think it may be uva vulpis, never received a definitive answer when I inquired in some ID threads.

Love the pics.
I saved pollen from my F. affinis.
If anyone has other native frits and would like to try for hybrids let me know and I'll send some pollen your way.

I planted some seeds of frits. Keeping my fingers crossed that they will germinate and one day, I will be able to post a picture of a blooming frit

meleagris is blooming and the lily beetles are out. Drenched tonight.

After a few trials and tribulations my F. imperialis has managed to bloom

Freezing temps.

A snowstorm that left 4 inches before it was done.

Finally, a little battered and bruised but blooming.

Crown Imperials have been a test of patience here. I planted out 3 Rubra and 3 Lutea. These were all pretty big bulbs. Yr. 1 yielded very small stems with no bloom and dormancy by late Spring. Yr. 2 was much the same except they got larger and lasted longer until going dormant. I transplanted the 5 I could find after they went dormant. Yr. 3, this year, the transplanted ones all popped up and now are going dormant w/out blooming. Four which were not moved, 3 offsets maybe, all have flower buds. Yeah!

I should mention they get more than 6hrs. of sun. Do crown imperials mind being wet when dormant?

These were the first Crown Imperials I have planted in a long time. I planted three really large bulbs last fall. Every single one I have planted in the past never bloomed and never returned either. I have read that they can't be allowed to dry out too much in the summer but I don't know if they tolerate wet conditions either.

On an aside, I've collected some seed from my fritillaria meleagris, does anyone have any experience growing them from seed?

Sorry to hear they've been a hassle for you as well. Too wet, too dry, maybe a Goldilocks complex? I haven't tried to grow meleagris from seed but hope someones chimes in as think there are some seed pods out back.

No seeds on affinis this year. Warm winter, early spring, the plants chose early dormancy.