John INgram wrote, .> The Frits [imperialis] I have tried them in several spots >over the years and they never even emerge and if they >do, it is one leaf or two and then poof. This is the usual experience that gardeners have with commercially purchased bulbs of Fritillaria imperialis. I don't know whether it's that the bulbs can't stand to be out of the ground, or whether they are all so virus-infected that they can't adapt to life outside the carefully controlled conditions of the Dutch bulb farm and warehouse. I suspect that both are true. The bulbs I have purchased did emerge, but the foliage was invariably badly distorted and streaked -- virus symptoms. One occasionally sees healthy-looking stands of F. imperialis in old gardens, and it would make sense to obtain offsets from these to see if they can adapt better to cultivation in North America. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon