Plant of the Month: April

Fritillaria verticillata Common name: Fritillary Family: Liliaceae Vital statistics Height and spread: 30-70cm (12-28in) tall Form: Bulbous perennial Soil: Fertile, well-drained soil. Aspect: Full sun or partial shade. Hardiness: Hardy throughout the British Isles.

Fritillaria verticillata @ Hyde Hall

The plant at Hyde Hall can be found growing in the Dry Garden on a gently slope sheltered behind rocks next to Leptospermum 'Silver Sheen' and in front of Digitalis lutea.

Fritillaria

There are some 100 species of bulbous perennials in this genus. They range in habitats from open meadows to woodland and scree, distributed throughout the temperate northern hemisphere, especially concentrated in Mediterranean climates.

The leaves are usually lance-shaped or linear.  The flowers are borne in spring or early summer and are bell-shaped, and usually pendulous. In some species they are solitary, others in racemes or umbels, and some species have leafy bracts above the flowers.  Across the genus there are species with flower colour ranging from reds, orange, yellow, white, purple, pale blue and soft pink, and a variety of heights from about 10cm (4in) to 1.5m (5ft) tall.

Fritillaria verticillata

This fritillary displays nodding bells of creamy-white with faint green veins, and chequered purplish-brown on the inside.  The flowers are borne in loose spikes in the leaf axils in spring, usually in groups of three to six, but sometimes in ones or twos. They are about 2.5-3.5cm (1- 1.25in) long and 1.5-2cm (0.5-0.75in) wide.

It likes a fertile, well-drained soil in full sun, and is perfect for a rock garden or a sunny border.

Fritillaria verticillata originates from stony and dry slopes in China and Siberia and in hill thickets and gravely subalpine meadows at elevations of 1300-2000 metres (4250-6500 feet) in the Altai Mountains of Central Asia. It grows to 30-70cm (12-28in) in height and has narrow lily-like leaves that are curled at the edges, with a tendril-like curve to the tip used in the wild to support the plant amongst long grasses.

Fritillaria thumbergii is very similar and the two are often confused. It flowers slightly earlier, prefers peatier soil but is otherwise very similar in cultivation.

Cultivation

Fritillaria verticillata is easily grown in a moderately fertile soil in sun or semi-shade. It succeeds in drier soils and is drought tolerant when established.

The scaly bulbs are best planted on their sides or surrounded in sand to prevent water collecting in their crowns.

Propagation

Seed is best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame, and it should germinate in the spring. Stored seed should be sown as soon as possible and can take a year or more to germinate. Plants take three to five years to flower from seed.

They can also be propagated by division of offsets in August. The larger bulbs can be planted out direct into their permanent positions, but it is best to pot up the smaller bulbs and grow them on in a cold frame for a year before planting them out in the autumn.

More information

The Fritillaria group of the Alpine Garden Society - www.fritillaria.org.uk Plant of the Month: April