Fritillaria imperialis and persica help
Jane McGary (Fri, 06 Jun 2014 10:02:22 PDT)

An older post was quoted in part as follows:
"Since Fritillaria bulbs replace themselves every year, their
original orientation in the ground will be lost anyway."

This is absolutely not true. Fritillaria bulbs are true bulbs and are
not annually renewed. They either add more and larger scales, as a
Lilium bulb does, or simply increase the size of the original scales.
F. imperialis and F. persica are of the latter type, which can
produce offsets as well, though these two species don't do so every
year. The bulb enlarges in successive years until it reaches its
maximum size for the species and the environmental conditions.

In regard to orientation in the ground, this can change as the bulb
moves deeper in the soil. This can be achieved either by contractile
roots (you can observe them in the dormant state, when the withered
annual roots appear accordion-like), or by the form of the new
scales, which extend downward and have a "hook" or "anchor" bit at
the base. When I have many seedling Fritillaria bulbs or the "rice
grain" bulblets produced by some species, I don't bother to try to
orient them correctly in planting; they orient themselves through
root action. The young bulbs begin to show their top and bottom
clearly to the unaided eye when they are two years old, though if you
look very carefully you can see it the first year.

I suggested to Janos that he use a gritty soil for his bulbs because
I assume he lives where there is precipitation through most of the
year. Bob Nold finds that his plants do well in clay, but notes that
not much moisture penetrates to the depth of the bulbs (he lives near
Denver, Colorado). I live in the maritime Pacific Northwest, where
summers are dry, but the rainy season lasts too long (October to
June) for some bulbs from more arid climates. When I had a property
with very well drained soil, I could grow F. persica in the open, but
now I am gardening on clay and probably it would not do well except
in a raised bed of gritty soil.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA