Fritillaria elwesii

Description

Fritillaria elwesii has such lovely flowers that are purplish with green stripes. A mid season growing fritillaria that grows very well in moist, peaty soils in the shade. The stems can be up to 45cms tall and will hold several flowers cascading from the top of the stem. Elwesii is native to Southern Turkey and is also known as the Lebanese fritillary.

Fritillarias are quite an extensive group of varieties and are pretty easy to grow. They will naturalise extremely well and as such are ideal for many areas of the garden that are left to naturalise.

Cultivation Instructions

Before planting cultivate the soil to a depth of 30cm and ensure soils are well drained and do not dry out in the summer.  Plant in well-drained, humus rich solid and they can be left undisturbed for a number of years.  Add some grit or organic matter to the soil to help aid drainage.

Care tips:

Sunny areas of the garden ideally not in direct sunlight.  Once they have finished flowering allow the stems to die back and remove debris. In general plant the bulbs three times their height deep.

Feed regularly during the growing season with high potash and phosphate foods such as  bone meal or tomato food.

Growing Information

Flowering Height: 18″ (45cm)

Flowering Period: April

Aspect: Sunny to semi shade aspect.

Soil type: Free draining light, humus rich soils with added organic matter if possible.

Planting Depth: Approximately 8-12 inches below soil surface.

Planting distance: 8-12″ apart (20-30cm)

New season top quality bulbs dispatched from September on-wards