Today a squirrel ate my two seed pods of Fritillaria camschatcensis.

But he is not going to get my Fritillaria causica pod.


It's in my reverse live trap.

That's a real shame, Rick.

At least the trap should protect the F. causica!

Nice Fritillaria!

Leftwood said: .

Rick, I'm delighted you posted this photo. Along with my Lilium monadelphum seeds (already sown), I also received seed packets of Fritillaria persica and F.grandiflora. Do they have the same stratification requirements as Lilium's? There's very little info about them here in NGA. I love the giant F.persica but there's a huge bunch of charming miniatures... I tried successfully to grow F.imperalis last season. I've yet to see if they do come back again this coming one. This year I was able to get also a bulb of F.persica. The seeds look very much like Lilium seeds. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Arturo

Nice Fritillaria. I am especially fond of the color!

I grew it from seed marked Fritillaria carica. Imagine my excitement the first time it bloomed!


Arturo, Fritillaria seed do look a lot like Lilium. Sometimes you can see the embryo in the dry seed when you candle them (like Lilium), and some times not. If you do detect an embryo, it is always quite short compared to lilies.

All fritillaria are technically immediate epigeal in germination. But all of them, except some of the North American species (Pacific northwest, USA), go through a maturation stage after planting, and then a cold period before they germinate. We plant them in late summer/early fall. Where I am in Minnesota, I plant the first week of September. The embryo will do its stuff, and germinate in the following spring. Fritillaria are cold germinators: they sprout in the 35-55F (2-12C) range. My best germinations come when its been warming up, and then it snows, and the wet snow stays for two or three days before it melts.

Yeah, love those miniatures!
F. crassiflolia ssp. kurdica


Even the common F. meleagris is easy, although I seem to have some trouble with this one from seed.


F. pallida is easy from seed.

Well so far, I've had 10.5 inches of snow from the most recent storm, another 4-7 still to come. May I remind everyone that this is a good to gather free rain water!

https://garden.org/thread/view...

I do hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year holiday.
The best Christmas present this year:

Real Wild rice. My Brother-in-law harvested it, each from disparate lakes and a river. Each is slightly different because of the disjunct populations. In retirement, he now works by request, for the 1854 Treaty Authority, a Native American organization that tries to ensure that the government is living up to their part of the agreement.

FYI, at least in Minnesota where most of the uncultivated Wild rice comes from in the U.S., the Wild rice harvest in Indian country was pretty much called off due to the long deep drought. There was a bumper crop of rice overall, but lake levels were so low that it could not be accessed.

Rick, what a nice gift.
Was that a culinary gift or a horticultural gift?
In other news:
It's January and we have not gotten a good ground freeze here. No snow cover either. Unusually warm, averaging 39 degrees F - and dry, too. I can easily get a shovel in the ground. Not good conditions for my dormant lilies.

Our ground rarely freezes here is the north Georgia mountains, but we had 3 days below freezing, right after rain, and a low of 4 degrees, and in fact the ground froze so hard that I couldn't get the stakes for my blow-up Christmas decorations out of the ground. This freeze may or may not help my efforts to grow lilies. Last April, we got a very late freeze after the lilies were already 1 foot tall. Needless to say, the stems melted with the freeze and never grew back. Because our ground does not freeze, I suspect the bulbs never really go dormant, and they start growing very early in spring. They are doomed if there is a late freeze. I have not found the "perfect" strategy yet to outwit Mother Nature (as if such a thing is possible), but I tried again this fall to plant lily bulbs. Fingers crossed I get some blooms next summer.

The wild rice is for eating. The seed is recalcitrant, meaning if it dries, it dies. I have thought about growing it, and of course, my Brother-in-law can give me fresh seed, but I don't have the time to make such a specific set up right now. Maybe when I retire? Wild rice is very sensitive to certain contaminates, which is why there is such an uproar against copper/nickel/iron mining in northern Minnesota.

Kathy, thank goodness (for the lilies) that it is dry. This is what can save them in cold, but above freezing weather. Cold and wet can mean death for lilies, as the semi-dormant bulb can't fight off infections that are favored by this environment. But cold and dry is the next best thing to frozen (when moisture content doesn't matter).

Lori, I think the best thing you can do is mulch your lilies whenever you think the ground is at its coldest. (Would that be early February for you?) Keep the ground cold for as long as possible into the spring to delay sprouting.

@leftwood Thank you, Rick, for the insights as to overwintering lilies. As I read your suggestions, I realize that I am fighting an uphill battle trying to grow lilies in my neck of the woods. January is our rainiest month, and since the ground doesn't freeze (except every 40 years), we have a perfect breeding ground for the "cold and wet" diseases. I will try more mulch in January/February, but our sun is so high in the sky, that come February/March, a sunny day can quickly warm the soil, so it is hard to keep the beauties from sprouting. I can be more diligent to cover the sprouts with buckets if a freeze is predicted. I am starting to understand that certain "perennials" are really annuals in my garden, such as lupines, foxglove, even Tall Bearded Iris. Lilies may be added to that list. If I get more than one year, I need to celebrate, and if they don't survive past the first season, I need to replant or dedicate that garden space to other things. That is part of the fun of gardening.

@LoriMT I guess we both face the same type of challenge with lilies. I had a very late hard freeze Nov 17 which wiped most of my lily tops and as you mentioned when they thawed either they melted into nothing or started to go dormant...
However, I could've placed some type of fleece or lining and saved almost all of them...
Most of the "frozen" have basal new growth which just shows that they have kept multiplying. With the exception of a few asiatics all the rest are being grown in sunken grow bags. From what I've read they can stay that way forever ( given nutrient replenishment and occasional division of over crowded clumps). So late winter, I plan to lift them with their bags and place them in our cool greenhouse. Let them develop their sturdy stalks. Keep them there until our latest frost and them move them out afterwards.Most of my ca 50 bags are orientals/orientpets or martagons. Finally, just before blooming sink them in different parts of the garden as they do their thing. Today we just planted/sunk about 8 different bags of the few with buds that survived the frost.

Arturo

@hampartsum The idea of growing the lilies in sunken bags (or pots), then spacing them in the garden when they are ready to bloom is appealing. I hope your efforts produce beautiful results. Keep us posted.

Thanks, Rick, I did not know that.

I was lily dreaming today and came across this and thought I would share. I imagined the perfection of perfumed air while I strolled the paths between the lilies. (just remember to hit skip the ads when you see it pop up)
https://youtu.be/wIvmtsh4NiM

Oh ! My !
So beautiful.
Can you imagine all the hand cultivating between rows?

I can't even imagine how they got it to look so perfect. And you note, no matter what you see there, there are no stakes needed and everything is show quality, growing perfectly straight. Lilies love Japan.

Thanks so much for posting this.
This is so calming.
On a cold March day it had me thinking about spring and beginning to plan some future crosses.
I had fun trying to ID all the lilies.
I could not ID them all.
Eric

Ive been quiet, but also very busy .HIGH iron & then being advised , I had low iron explains a lot of my pain ..Working as best as my body will let me , new seedlings ( that you all sent me)going into my 2 raised garden beds.Crazy year & weeds have taken over once again . Im fighting 👍

Be well Anthony and good luck with new seedlings.