I have found the recent postings regarding the snakeshead fritillaries most
interesting. I grow Fritillaria meleagris, the very different F. messanensis
and F. assyrica. I originally bought ten bulbs of assyrica in December 2000
and have kept them potted up in my greenhouse ever since. Yesterday I
thought it was time to re-pot them and on knocking them out, I was amazed to
find that apart from the original ten bulbs, I now have 105 extra of varying
sizes. I understand that F. assyrica and the Turkish F. michailovskyi do
multiply more rapidly than meleagris but surely 105 extra bulbs in just two
and a half years is a pretty good return for my money. Fritillaria assyriaca
obviously makes up for not seeding so readily as some other fritillaria by
producing lots of bulblets.

Bill Brewer