Fritillaria Raddeana Question

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Thu, 13 Sep 2012 09:27:05 PDT
Fred asked,
>I just ordered seeds of this frit and I was wondering if anyone has 
>any experience with it. I have an adult growing in my open garden (a 
>few years now) and it seems happy in that it comes up each year 
>flowers but it doesn't seem to offset at all. I want to expand the 
>bed because they're really quite pretty but have no idea of their 
>seed requirements. If anybody has experience with them any help 
>would be greatly appreciated.

This species rarely produces offsets, but the individuall bulbs, 
where suited, are very long-lived. I have some that are 24 years old 
from original sowing. The seed should be sown om a gritty medium in 
fall and given a fairly long period of moist chilling (not freezing), 
and will germinate in late winter to early spring. The seedlings are 
large, as are the mature plants, and should flower in their fourth year.

Fritillaria raddeana is now offered in some Dutch bulb catalogs, but 
I don't know whether it is being propagated by seed, by tissue 
culture, or by cutting the bulbs to induce bulblet formation. I have 
always grown new ones from seed, which is regularly set here. It is a 
member of the Imperiales section typified by the Crown Imperial, 
which is somewhat larger. The flowers are pale yellow and appear here 
in late February, but would be later where Fred lives.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA




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