Jim McKenney wrote, >I began to check fritillary bulbs today: what a pleasure it is to >turn out a pot and find all of those little offset bulbs clustered >around a big fat bulb. I've decided that frits are the guppies of >the bulb hobby. I wish they were! Although some species produce many offsets, or scales that can be separated for increase, some almost never offset. That's why you don't see their bulbs in commerce, at least not for low prices. For instance, I have never known Fritillaria arriana to offset, or the closely related F. gibbosa either, and another of their relatives, F. stenanthera, does so only perhaps every ten years. In contrast, F. carica, F. acmopetala, and some others do increase very fast, and F. meleagris will self-sow readily in the garden. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA