Over the Easter Hols, I visited the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr,
Harrogate and fell in love... with fritillaria imperialis! I don't
ever recall seeing this plant before and I was really taken with its
stature and beautiful flowers - the hunt's on now to find bulbs!

In article ,
Glenda Young wrote:
Over the Easter Hols, I visited the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr,
Harrogate and fell in love... with fritillaria imperialis! I don't
ever recall seeing this plant before and I was really taken with its
stature and beautiful flowers - the hunt's on now to find bulbs!

Wait until early autumn. They are available from August onwards.
The bulbs are not cheap (especially lutea, the yellow one), but
are worth it. They like to be planted deep (6" down at the top)
and to be able to get at water in their growing season. They don't
mind a fair amount of shade. If they like the conditions, they
will self-seed, and a FEW of the seedlings will establish themselves.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Glenda wrote in message ...
Over the Easter Hols, I visited the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr,
Harrogate and fell in love... with fritillaria imperialis! I don't
ever recall seeing this plant before and I was really taken with its
stature and beautiful flowers - the hunt's on now to find bulbs!


Yes beautiful flowers, unfortunately they are also the favourite of Lily
Beetle which did for ours, including Lutea, despite my constant attempts at
control which works for our lilies. So if you have that pest in your area
watch out, they'll get eaten off before you know they are growing.
Oh, and they also smell of foxes, strongly! :-)

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

In article ,
Glenda Young wrote:
Over the Easter Hols, I visited the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr,
Harrogate and fell in love... with fritillaria imperialis! I don't
ever recall seeing this plant before and I was really taken with its
stature and beautiful flowers - the hunt's on now to find bulbs!

Wait until early autumn. They are available from August onwards.
The bulbs are not cheap (especially lutea, the yellow one), but
are worth it. They like to be planted deep (6" down at the top)
and to be able to get at water in their growing season. They don't
mind a fair amount of shade. If they like the conditions, they
will self-seed, and a FEW of the seedlings will establish themselves.

They smell pungently like foxes, so don't plant them near a doorway or
window ;-).

Janet.

"Sue & Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Glenda wrote in message ...
Over the Easter Hols, I visited the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr,
Harrogate and fell in love... with fritillaria imperialis! I don't
ever recall seeing this plant before and I was really taken with its
stature and beautiful flowers - the hunt's on now to find bulbs!

Oh, and they also smell of foxes, strongly! :-)

Lots of the bulb catalogues do them. I am sitting here having grown them
for the first time this year and feeling miffed - I ordered 'Rubra', the red
one and they have all come up orange :-(
Yes I agree about the smell. Even the bulbs reek. I've never actually
smelt a fox but I'll know what one smells like if I ever have the pleasure
of meeting one. The bulbs are planted about 5m away from our summerhouse
and even the slightest breeze wafts the musty, oniony, foxy smell all over
the place. Still it proves that we've had success!

--A

For the last fifteen years I have grown three varieties of Fritillaria
imperialis in my garden, 'Rubra', 'Lutea' and 'Aurora' with limited
flowering success. I remember that the first five years were fine, but from
then onwards flowering became a rarity. At the time of planting, I followed
planting instructions to the letter. They have never been dug up and moved
to a new location as I understand that crown imperials should be left
undisturbed. This year I have just one in flower at the moment, an 'Aurora'.
What could be wrong with them? Any thoughts to the group on the subject
would be most welcome.

Bill Brewer
-----------------------------
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in a message:

Wait until early autumn. They are available from August onwards.
The bulbs are not cheap (especially lutea, the yellow one), but
are worth it. They like to be planted deep (6" down at the top)
and to be able to get at water in their growing season. They don't
mind a fair amount of shade. If they like the conditions, they
will self-seed, and a FEW of the seedlings will establish themselves.

"Glenda wrote in message ...
Over the Easter Hols, I visited the RHS gardens at Harlow Carr,
Harrogate and fell in love... with fritillaria imperialis! I don't
ever recall seeing this plant before and I was really taken with its
stature and beautiful flowers - the hunt's on now to find bulbs!


Yes beautiful flowers, unfortunately they are also the favourite of Lily
Beetle which did for ours, including Lutea, despite my constant attempts at
control which works for our lilies. So if you have that pest in your area
watch out, they'll get eaten off before you know they are growing.
Oh, and they also smell of foxes, strongly! :-)

Thanks for the comments folks. I'm not quite sure what foxes smell
like but if I get some bulbs, it looks like I'll find out!! I just
hope they smell awful enough to stop the squirrels digging them up and
eating them.

On Thu, 24 Apr 2003 16:11:05 +0100, Bill Brewer wrote:

For the last fifteen years I have grown three varieties of Fritillaria
imperialis in my garden, 'Rubra', 'Lutea' and 'Aurora' with limited
flowering success. I remember that the first five years were fine, but from
then onwards flowering became a rarity. At the time of planting, I followed
planting instructions to the letter. They have never been dug up and moved
to a new location as I understand that crown imperials should be left
undisturbed. This year I have just one in flower at the moment, an 'Aurora'.
What could be wrong with them? Any thoughts to the group on the subject
would be most welcome.

Feed the brutes. They are potassium lovers, I have been told.

But don't try to bulk them up all at once with one mighty dose of
fertilizer. Two or three years of regular light feedings is a
better idea. I've been giving my own garden a fall feeding the
last two years. Lots of things responded the first spring after
such a feeding, but other plants have taken a second year to show
the results. I notice, in particular, that the species tulips
took longer than the daffodils.




--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada