Re: "Scarlet Bells" = Fritillaria recurva ?

Laura Cooper Nick Taggart wrote:
> I just bought three of them at Trader Joe's here in Los Angeles
> (Eagle Rock). Not scarlet, burgundy and freckled, but otherwise it
> looks like the pictures on the web--more delicate than garden variety
> fritillaria. it probably has no hope of making it in my garden (this
> far south) but when it's done I'll try planting it in some dappled
> shade I guess--always worth a try for something this pretty. Trader's
> also had some suprising large leaved coleus. You never know what will
> turn up. K-Mart and Home Depot sometimes have great succulents.
>
Laura
I can believe the Burgandy colour much more easily, scarlet being a pretty rare flower colour for these plants.. From your description I guess what you have is F.gracilis (which I once grew). It is quite low-growing, not more than 12" high, and more reddish than F meleagris, but definitely not scarlet. It could also be F.graeca which is a bit lower, but has larger flowers. Either of these would probably do well in your climate in the dappled shade you suggest as their natural habitat is in Mediterranean woodland in Greece and Yugoslavia. They would certainly be more at home with you than F.meleagris which is a British native from the east and south of England.

The chances of it being F. recurva were always very low I am sure, as this is not at all easy to cultivate and would be very much a specialist's plant. Not what you would expect to find in Trader Joe's I think. I once tried one here, but it left me without ever producing a flower..

Moira

--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES AND DIAGRAMS ADDED 20/Feb/2005

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