While we’re on the topic of Fritillaria imperialis, I’ll mention something which many of you might not be aware of. To make it a bit more interesting, I’ll use a bit (OK, a lot) of hyperbole: Fritillaria imperialis as we know it might soon be extinct in cultivation. Another possibility: the plant you grow as Fritillaria imperialis might not be. What’s all this about? A week or two ago I was looking at the web site of one of the big Dutch firms which specializes in crown imperials (crowns imperial?). Evidently they have already been successful in hybridizing Fritillaria imperialis with other closely related species such as F. raddeana, F. chitralensis and F. eduardii. One goal is to hybridize with other species which do not have the strong characteristic odor of F. imperialis. As I recall the web site showed mass plantings of these hybrids: my guess is that they are already making the rounds, especially if they do not meet the hybridist’s goals. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/