Sunday 8 April 2012

Snake's Head Fritillary

The Snake's Head Fritillary (Fritillaria Meleagris) is a newcomer to my garden. I bought a packet of bulbs and planted them last Autumn, just in order to try something different, and they are flowering now.


They normally flower after Daffodils and before Tulips and come in two colours - one is white, but the other is a sort of checkerboard design of purple with cream. I like the latter best.

 


The plants are allegedly difficult to establish, but once established are reliable performers and lend themselves to naturalisation in a part of the garden that doesn't get dug - for instance a patch of "Wild Flower Garden" or meadow. They do best in cold, damp conditions, although they do enjoy sunshine.

At first, when the buds are tight, they are a yellowish-green colour and very slender.


As the buds swell they turn a darker colour and fill-out in size. This is the stage at which they most closely resemble a snake's head.


Later on, when fully open, the flowers look a bit like Tulips.


Here's a close-up of the snake's tongue:


I have some of them growing in a border, and some in this pot (hedging my bets again).


One thing I have noticed about this flower is that it is exceptionally hard to take a good photo of it. The "checkerboard" design is blurred at the edges and tends to make the photo look out of focus. I must have taken at least a hundred shots to produce the ones in this post!

15 comments:

  1. This lovely plant is native to Croatia and grows on moist meadows. Unfortunately, it is endangered species. I have them in my garden too. It will appear for many years onward.
    Mappy Easter, Mark.

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  2. Very nice! I love the checkerboard pattern on the purple ones but since we aren't cold and damp here very often I don't believe they would do well in my garden. At least I will have yours to look at. Happy Easter!

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  3. They are amazing flowers - they never fail to thrill when I see them - unfortunately my soil is very free draining and they have never done well - maybe I should try some in a container.

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  4. Gorgeous! I love these flowers but have never managed to grow them. We had woodland near our house in the UK where they grew alongside bluebells and daffs and they always looked incredible! Maybe I'll take your lead and plant some in pots......x

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  5. I'm intrigued that Vesna says that this plant is native to Croatia, because it also grows wild here in Denmark, way more North than Croatia.

    It's lovely, but sadly I haven't had success with my attempts at growing it. Still, I will continue, since they really OUGHT to do well in my moist, slow-draining soil.

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  6. Wow, I just realized from the photos how this plant resembles snake's head!

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  7. Love that purple one. There is some interesting info on Wikipedia about these that will answer Soren's query. I have spent the weekend planting more bulbs for spring flowering.

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  8. Such an elegant flower and beautifully captured in your photos Mark. I’ve also not had much luck keeping them going. They did all right for the first couple of years then started to decrease. I think I only had a couple flowers last year and it looks like none this year...such a shame.

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  9. We bought a pot of fritillaries a few years ago and ended up with both the mottled and white in the same pot so double value.

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  10. I love these flowers. I have a few in my garden, they're at their best at the moment.

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  11. I like the Snake's Head Fritillary, not familiar with them, they have great colouring. I thought it was great to see a photo of your garden in 'Grow It' this month (I did a double take)! You have an super garden and in my opinion should win lots of prizes! I've put the photo on my blog. Happy Easter weekend, Kelli.

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  12. Very interesting flower. I really like the purple, it is so striking.

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  13. Very pretty look exotic. I don't think they will do well in our place since it is not that damp here even in winter.

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  14. A lovely plant, I have several of the purple dappled ones in a large pot alongside my fishpond. They are in bloom at the moment.

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  15. Fascinating, and slightly scary too!
    Beautifully photographed. I saw such flowers first time.

    Thanks.
    Pattu
    http://www.gardenerat60.wordpress.com

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