Hi Jane, Long time before I saw a sign of Fritillaria Festival in Jacksonville, OR. It was earlier season to see the flower. I heard that the particular wild Fritillaria blooms only in Jacksonville area. Do you know what kind of Fritillaria? Makiko On Mar 8, 2014, at 1:00 PM, Jane McGary wrote: > Guy wrote: >> I am preparing a list of all the bulbs I experimented here, in >> alphabetical order. I have just passed letter F, anh had to confess >> I was very disappointed with them, but as you can imagine I would >> be ready to try again and again. I have got Fritillaria biflora >> from one BX, they grow well , in pot for the moment, and I also >> would like to try some more californian species, if possible to see >> if they stand better the climate we have here. >> >> So, may I ask you, according to your long experience with >> Fritillarias, in this case, which one I could or should try here. >> >> Fritillaria imperialis of course, but aso F. persica, F. >> raddeana, etc ..failed here, for example. >> Fritillarias are not moutain plants , do they all need cold ( we had >> no frost this year, for example ) or constant humidity when growing? > > The genus Fritillaria inhabits many different kinds of habitats in > Europe, Asia, and North America. The species Guy mentions, > Fritillaria biflora, is native to California but has a large range, > and different forms can be grown well in different areas of the UK, > Europe, and North America. If you grow it in a pot, it should be a > deep pot. Another American species that has a very wide range in both > latitude and elevation is Fritillaria affinis, which is available in > Europe (I think) in a handsome sterile triploid form called 'Wayne > Roderick' or "tristulis". I don't know what the cold requirements in > the genus are, because we always have some frost in winter where I > live. Some people think Fritillaria striata is a warm grower, but it > occurs in the mountains where winters are frosty. I believe some > growers in the UK grow Fritillaria species in alpine houses that are > kept above the freezing point. I have never kept them in a heated > frame or house. > > As for their moisture requirements (I think that is what Guy means by > "humidity" -- moisture in the soil, not in the air), most of them > flower at the time of the greatest soil moisture, but the alpine > species would experience a dry dormancy under snow. Alpine bulbs and > those from the far north are typically more difficult to grow well in > snow-free, lowland areas such as mine. Some Fritillaria species, such > as Fritillaria pluriflora in California and Fritillaria meleagris in > Europe, are in very wet conditions at their time of flowering; the > former's habitat dries up in summer, but I think meleagris always > needs some moisture, which makes it a good choice for the irrigated > border or summer-rainfall areas. Some species tolerate very dry soil > conditions in summer, as long as they are planted deep enough. I have > a dry and a moist bed in my bulb house and both beds contain many > Fritillaria species whose native habitats I have studied before planting them. > > Guy should not give up on the species that failed for him. If he > bought them as bulbs, they may have been stored too dry or otherwise > treated badly. I have never grown purchased Fritillaria imperialis > bulbs successfully, but I have good seed-grown plants of that > species. (They do take a long time to flower from seed.) > > Good luck! > Jane McGary > Portland, Oregon, USA > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/