Fritillaria 2012

Great pics and information Rick.

Here are a few out at the moment ....

A nice coloured form of F.acmopetala.
F.cirrhosa.
F.conica.
F.crassifolia i think.
F.drenovskii.

Cheers Dave.

Very Nice Dave.

I am on my third year of sowing the seed in pure seramis (I use cat litter) as shown by Wisley. So far the results are super with very strong growing bulbs being formed. I have sown in small pots are then potted on the resulting seedlings which is easy for me on a small scale.

I am hopeful of my first flowers in year four on crassiflolia and erhartii.

Google seramis and you will find a desription.

It is quite expensive and  'non clumping' cat litter is made of the same stuff and much cheaper.

The theory was written up in the Wisley Alpine Log but I cannot find the article but it was also in the September 2009 Plantsman

A few more ....

An early Frit. affinis -- others in troughs elsewhere in the garden are a couple of weeks away from blooming.

Raised from seed as F.hispanica which i think is now called F.lusitanica........

and a nice black form of F.acmopetala.

Cheers Dave.

Nice Frits Dave.

Michael wrote:

Nice Frits Dave.

Thanks Michael.

RickR wrote:

Those are some big anthers on F. affinis! 

Did everyone notice the rippling of the petal edges on that one?
Way cool, Dave!  8)

Gee Rick -- you are so observant  :) This was it's first flowering from seed ---in view of your comments i went and viewed my pics of the other F.affinis that flower later on here --none of those show rippling of the petal edge ......

McDonough wrote:

I have to agree Rick, the F. affinis Dave shows us is superb, such a distinctive species in its own right, but this form is really fine and so well grown, I'm jealous!

Thanks Mark --hopefully it will set seed so i can pass it around.

Cheers Dave.

IMYoung wrote:

Most  Frit. affinis of the type shown by Dave Toole  - which used to be known as F. lanceolata  and F.  lanceolata tristulis-  usually have those marvelous reptilian ripples on the petal edges. It really highlights the waxy, sturdy nature of the blooms. 

Maggi

Thanks Maggi --I'm still learning --in fact i think I'll always be 'an apprentice of many and a master of none'  :'( as my horticultural interests are so wide .

Now if it was NZ natives alpines we were talking about .............................................................. I'd probably still need help ! ;D  ;)

Kind regards to 'Scottie'.

Cheers Dave.

The first leaves on Fritillaria davidii are well underway now. Hoping for flowers in this pot this coming spring. ;D

McDonough wrote:

Hello Ron (Longma), welcome to NARGS Forum.  I really like the net-textured leaves of this species, have admired beautiful pots of them on SRGC and elsewhere, it's on my list of frits to try.

By the way, please excuse the delay in processing NARGS Forum registration requests, Thursday was Thanksgiving Day holiday here in the US, with family visiting, and then I'm still needing to work overtime in preparation for a major convention next week.

Thanks very much Mark.
It is a most unusual Fritillaria, but not very difficult to grow ( flowering it is another thing! ). It has roots almost all year round and needs to be kept  moist to very moist, in an open free draining 'woodsy' style mix. I have a number in pots and they are outside spring, summer, fall then into a shaded greenhouse for winter when I keep them on the drier side, until flowering ( hopefully!) in spring. Is it allowed to send 'rice grains' to USA? If so let me know in spring if you'd like me to send some in summer.
I completely forgot  :rolleyes:  :rolleyes: that Thursday was Thanksgiving Day holiday. I hope you and all Forum members had a wonderful holiday.   I am very pleased to be here now, am looking forward to learning, and hope I can contribute in some way.

While waiting for a new comprehensive fritillaria book  :( I found a series of these on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fritillaria-Falcata-Jesse-Russell/dp/551224969X/...

Do anyone have any experience with these. Can you find the same articles searching the Web?

I believe you don't have to wait much longer Arne. I have been led to understand that the long awaited Kew monograph on Fritillaria will be published next year ( 2013). ;)
I have also seen these titles, that you refer to, on Amazon and wonder what they are about. I follow the published papers re Fritillaria very carefully and cannot get a grasp on these offers. I think that if you have any questions regarding these Frits ( F.falcata etc. ), then much better to post your query on this forum, than pay for these 'whatevers'!! I am sure there are people here who can address any queries you have. ;D

Thanks, that was good news, I will save my money until then :) No praticular questions at the moment, more a search for knowledge.

A cold Norwegian summer and atumn has already got the first Fritillaria seeds to sprout here.

Arne

I'm saving my pocket money too Arne in anticipation of a quality publication. ;D ;D

The Frit sprouting is incredibly early and will certainly be damaged through the winter if exposed to your Norwegian climate. What species do you think it is? and what conditions are you able to give it? If its sprouted and then gets frozen it may not make it! :(

Luckily I have a frost free room in my garage with windows to set the sprouting seeds, so the lack of light in a dark winter will be the biggest challenge. Most of them were sown i January (oliqua, caucasica, verticillata) and one in September (striata). Same happened last year, from late November and onwards. I guess there will be more to come (I have plenty of pots with seeds).

Thankyou for welcome and furthrter information of the socalled books. I will certenly not buy any.

Arne

McDonough wrote:

So, Ron I'm glad you posted the news about an upcoming monograph on Fritillaria.  Do you know who the author(s) will be?  I know that when it comes out, I certainly must get a copy.

Mark - it has been the 'hot gossip' ( or should I be saying the 'skinny' or 'scuttlebutt' now I'm here ;D ) this year that the long awaited for Kew Monograph on Fritillaria by Martyn Rix is being completed by Bob Wallis and will be published next year. Rix's monograph has long been waited for and there have been numerous 'false dawns' I know. This time it is looking good. 8)

Thanks for the welcome Rick. I'm keen to learn from the wide range of 'know how' that is so obvious from a read through many wonderful posts. :)

Some nice species there Arne, including one of my 'loves', F.striata. This is usually the first of the Liliorhiza to show and flower for me here in UK. Usually this is in late December, but I know further south at ( Royal Horticultural Society Gardens ) Wisley they have had it emerge in early November.
http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/diaries/Wisley/+November+/237/

Then my F. striata seeds are not so early at all :) I had been looking for those seed for a while, seeds from the more unusual American fritts are not easy obtainable. These came from the Fritillaria Groups seed exchange.

Not so early at all Arne.  8) 8) ;D

I'm expecting my latest sowing of F.striata to be showing within the next few weeks also,  ;D ;D

I have sown most of my subgenus Liliorhiza seed now, but do have a few species left to sow. I find the latest sowing time here is end December, :)

PM me if you would like some of the species I have left.

Odd really Ron, I'd never thought of you as a fabled winged horse with dragon scales ;D

deesen wrote:

Odd really Ron, I'd never thought of you as a fabled winged horse with dragon scales ;D

Fire breathing as well David!

Frit davidii now seems quite well established in cultivation with flowering plants being shown.

I bought a bulb named as F. delavayi last January from China and it is clearly davidii. It was covered in rice grain bulbils which I took off. No growth occurred this year either on the parent bulb or the off sets but now this autumn they are in full growth as is another clone given me by a friend. None of my other frits are showing although root growth is visible through the bottom of the pots. Slugs just love the new growth on this species

Tony wrote:

It was covered in rice grain bulbils which I took off.

A good pointer Tony, for anyone receiving Fritillaria bulbs from China. If the bulb has these 'rice grains' then it can only be F.davidii, F.dagana, F. camschatcensis or F.maximowiczii. All but F.davidii are stoloniferous species ( only partly true in F.camschatcensis however, depending upon region ).
Good to hear that you have them established now. You must have quite a few if you removed all of the rice grains,  ;D ;)
I'll be looking to exchange some pollen in the spring time  ;)

Can anyone please help me track down the natural pollinators of the members of the subgenus Liliorhiza?

F.recurva and F.gentneri have Hummingbirds recorded in various articles. Is there a specific one species of bird? Can anyone verify this by personal observation please?

I know many NARGS members like to get out into the wilds, and enjoy the beautiful countryside of the West Coast. If anyone has any observations of insects on Fritillaria flowers ( something as simple as a bee or a fly etc. are perfectly OK ) I would dearly love to hear your observations / experiences.  :)
Records for these seem very sparse in the written record ( at least that I can find ). Any pointers in this direction would also be most welcome.

Thank you so much to those NARGS Forum members who have contacted me suggesting that this, Annas Hummingbird, is the pollinator of F.recurva and F. gentneri,  8) 8)

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Annas_Hummingbird/id

A most beautiful bird and that song is most unusual.  8) 8)

Love them to pop into my greenhouses to visit my flowers in Spring 2013  :o :o :o :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Thank you to all those members who passed on this information to me,  :)