Paul Tyerman wrote,Fritillaria purdyi that is >flowering for me here in Canberra, Australia at the moment. > > >This is always the first Fritillaria to flower each season. This is interesting, because here in Oregon it is one of the later American species to flower. In the wild, it blooms at the same time as Fritillaria pluriflora, which grows nearby, but here F. pluriflora blooms a month earlier. The first fritillaria to flower here is usually F. stenanthera, but of course it is knocked off its natural schedule by being in a (usually) warmer winter than at home. F. sewerzowii (syn. Korolkowia) is also very early for the same reason, and February usually sees flowers on F. striata, arriana, bucharica, raddeana, eduardii, and some of the yellow Greek-island species of the F. carica/euboica group. (I certainly wish I could get visitors out here in February!) As you can see, the colorful ones seem to flower earlier than the dark purple and green ones; I wonder if it has something to do with the emergence of flies or wasps vs. other pollinators? Bumblebees and other bees are busy here long before I see any wasps. And at the very end of the fritillaria season, the color returns with F. recurva, gentneri, and eastwoodiae (closely related), which are pollinated by hummingbirds--which don't arrive until RIbes sanguineum is in flower in the woods. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon