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Useless gardener seeks help!
In the autumn of 2015, my daughter gave me a number of fritillarias, some of which I put in pots and some in the garden soil. The ones in pots did well; the others disappeared!
The following spring, I used some of the seed to see if it would grow. To my utter surprise very many did. Some grew very large, much larger than the original, and some rather tiny.
I'm afraid, I don't know what I should do next, return them to their pots or should I let them dry, like the bulbs one buys.
Please help!
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Assuming it's Snakes-Head Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) (does it have chequered petals)? ; I would find a moderately damp location , plant them and leave to naturalise . Young shoots in Spring can be prone to slug damage , so treat accordingly and hope for the best .
PS :- To seed raise these you certainly are not 'useless'!
Hi Paul, thank you for your reply. So sorry I failed to mention the "brand". Yes, it's fritillaria meleagris.
Moist and my garden don't go together, unfortunately. It's pure chalk. Do you think it would be safer, under the circumstances, to keep them in well watered pots till autumn?
Thank you, Paul, for the kind comment. I just put them in pots, covered them in grit and kept them watered. They did the rest!
Difficult with such a chalky garden ; maybe ,like you say , grow in pots and move on accordingly to larger ones as the years progress . PS There are dozens of brilliant Fritillaria spp ; all amenable to pot cultivation !
Sorry to be obtuse, but what is spp? ( I know I'll regret asking, for I suspect it's well known to some!)
Yes, I'll keep them in pots, and, if I feel brave enough, I might put just a few in my chalky soil, come October. Who knows, they might stay alive out of a sense of compunction!
Sorry ; spp. abbreviation for 'species' . Fingers crossed they survive ! Good luck .
Thank you.