Fritillaria obliqua
Always nice when the flower that started you on a tangent in your life opens up for the season.
As promised...F. 'Richard Britten' alongside one of the wild types...I should note, this is not the John Day large form. Still look at the stem size for a good idea of the size difference..also the color on 'Richard Britten' is starting to orange a bit as a consequence of having been open for a week and a half.
Temps in the 50's and getting to be the time of year I most look forward to, getting to come home from work and spend an hour taking photographs in the greenhouse!
Big rain supposed to come this week to the valley..maybe flooding in the lowlands.
Mark
Lovely Fritillaria pudica Mark. One of my favourites also, :) Quite some variation in size and shape across its range. Do you find that all accept the same growing conditions?
ReplyDeleteHi Ron! I haven't put Richard Britten outside in the raised beds, but the other form shown in this picture and the one I have from the John Day area labeled large form have both done exceptionally well under bulb house and outdoor raised bed conditions. I will try Richard Britten out in a new bed I'm building this year and we will see....does anyone know the story behind Richard Britten?
ReplyDeleteI can't help regarding the story of Richard Britten, but will certainly ask around. I know that originally this clone was said to be sterile. I've never managed any seed from it yet, whereas others seem to seed prolifically.
ReplyDeleteAttending an "alpine plant show" today, I was given the following explanation for Fritillaria pudica 'Richard Britten' by a number of the 'more experienced' growers, and so I am now convinced that the history is ;
ReplyDeleteRichard Britten was a private grower of bulbous plants in UK. His collection eventually passed to Rod and Jane Leeds, and contained this form of F. pudica ( some people told me it could be traced back to a Carl Purdy collection, but I have no evidence of this ). The Leeds' propagated the plant and it was passed around as F. pudica 'Richard Britten'. Simple as that ! There is also a Galanthus form that bears his name apparently, and a number that are said to come originally from his garden, e.g. Galanthus 'Forge Double'.
Ron, Thanks again for filling in these details! That is interesting about the Carl Purdy reference, makes me wonder if it was a wild collected triploid possibly...I don't recall seeing it set seed but I did try selfing it and crosses with F. pudica.
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