Fritillaria Meleagris

I’ve seen this gorgeous plant, “Fritillaria Meleagris” ‘Saturnus’ several times, and have always found it striking in the landscape.  This time of year, I am so focused on cleaning-up my garden beds and making sure I have an abundance of bleeding hearts and daffodils peeking up that I forgot to check the nurseries about what else could be blooming in my garden. When I was at Fred Meyers this past weekend, I saw a sign below these gorgeous woodland plants that said “2 for $5.00” – each pot consisted of several (approximately 5) bulbs in each container, I couldn’t pass the opportunity to bring these home.
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A little internet research shared that this plant enjoys damp meadows and flood plains in Europe.  So the perfect place in my garden is my front walkway beds. This area of my landscape is always a little gooey with extra moisture.  The fact that this plant is a bulb would make me think that it would rot in this type of soil, but from what I read, this location sounds perfect.  only a light dapple of afternoon sunshine ~ so this space is never threatened of drying out.
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A common name of this plant is m the Checkered Lily, because of it’s checkered markings on the flower. Generally they are found in shades of purple, although in one of my pots, I was lucky to have a white bloom 'Alba' and it does have a faint check pattern, difficult to see in the photo – but sorta like a watermark.
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Mine stand about 10” high some a little higher than the other but sounds like they can reach 16” from what I’ve read. the tag says these cute plants are suitable for zones 3 to 4 with mulch, 5 to 8 without mulch – because the Pacific Northwest is about an 8 – these sound like a no worry plant to me.  It also says, that in the right environment, they will live long and naturalize well. Attract butterflies, and are outstanding in dried flower arrangements. So I clipped a stem off and brought it inside to see how it grows as a cut bloom and if it truly will be pretty when dried – I’ll have to get back to you on that!
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I just love how whimsical and unique this plant is.  I should tell you that I read that the bulb is poisonous – another reason why I planted these in my front garden – kids, chickens and dogs are usually in the back yard so the risk of hurting someone isn’t likely! What is your favorite Woodland plant? To see where else I am linking to this week – please check my “Cottage Links” label…xoxo, tracie

Comments

Those are absolutely gorgeous, I will look for some here in my area… don't have Fred Meyer here , but I go there when in Seattle visiting friends… great store, and nice plants. Have a good Spring day…
Mary
Mindy said…
Oooh, sooo pretty! I'm headed to Fred's tonight, I'll have to see if they have any.
This lily is so cool! What an unusual pattern in a flower. And they're so tall and graceful. I hope they dry well as I'm sure you'll find a great place to use them as dried flowers too. Wendy x

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