Ginny, Silk Road is a lilium. But if I'm noir mistaken, frits ate in the same botanical family. Just a differed sub -class

Nhra_20 said:Ginny, Silk Road is a lilium. But if I'm not mistaken, frits ate in the same botanical family. Just a differed sub -class

You're right, Dave.

Lilium, Nomocharis, Tulipa, Fritillaria, Erythronium and Cardinocrinum are some of the members (called a genus - singular - or genera - plural) of the Liliaceae family (in fact, they're all in the same tribe within the family, too).

Yes, sorry for confusing matters with lily talk in the frit thread!

for the heads up on how tall Silk Road grows, William and Dirt!
I did not realise that 'tall' in the description meant quite as tall as that!
I might have to reconsider where to put them, even if mine do not grow as well as yours!


Back to frits: The F. pallidiflora are almost open - will try to get some pics tomorrow. Can't photograph close up today with all the wind.

I have been thinking of getting some yellow F. imperialis for my yellow bed out front - any suggestions or recommendations??

Lilli, my choice would be to try as many yellows as possible, there aren't that many anyway. They will look beautiful together in a subtle mix and you will prolong the bloom a bit as well. Who knows which ones will work the best in your garden as that is just guesswork, but if you have some to choose from you will have a better starting point than if you put all the eggs in one basket.

This year I liked 'Early Passion', because of its early bloom and more subtle yellow. Although the bulb was a bit on the small side it still made a tall plant. It perhaps looks a bit more like F. raddeana than a traditional crown imperial. 'Early Magic' could also be an interesting choice and I'm thinking about adding that one myself this autumn. For a bit later bloom you always have 'Maxima Lutea'. Tried and tested for hundreds of years.

William!

I'm all for trying as many different cultivars as possible - now I have an idea what to look for.

Maxima Lutea is definitely on the list - where do you order yours?

My F. Pallidafloras are starting to bloom:

Lilli all of my older ones are from Eurobulb and they do offer free freight if you order for 100 Euro, but I somewhat hesitate to recommend them. Last year I ordered from https://nijssentuin.nl/ . They have a truly wonderful assortment and the quality looked great to me.

It's also worth having a look at Fluwels assortment. At around 2 Euro for every 24+ size crown imperial bulb, I don't think you can find any cheaper. They only have the common crown imperials as they are more about tulips and daffodils, but their quality is always very good. Usually they have the biggest bulbs of all companies I tried. Although of course an occasional bad bulb may slip by, they have always delivered bulbs true to name and they also always sent a nice little gift with the order: https://www.fluwel.com/special....

William.

I have ordered from Eurobulb several times in the past 4-5 years and have had good luck with most of their bulbs. I know of the others but don't remember trying them.

I see Fluwel will open for fall orders on the 17. of this month, so I'll have a chance to try them out very soon!

Lilli, seems like you and I have been ordering from Eurobulb for around the same time. I've ordered from them a total of 9 times starting in 2013, sometimes buying 3 times in one year. I was in fact very happy when I first "discovered" them. They made me go on a bulb shopping spree as the prices, quality and assortment was way better than I was used to here in Sweden. The latest purchases has however been less positive for me, so that is why I wont recommend them. Sadly they are no longer my first choice.

Photo from last evening of my newest Fritillaria combinations.

Crown Imperials + Hellebores is a perhaps the more unusual of these two. Combinations with tulips are on the other hand are very common. Which one do you prefer?

I like them both William. But if I had to choose, the one with hellebores. I think the two different foliage colors rather accents one another.

I agree both look great, but if i could only have one it would be the tulips.

Both
okay, okay, the hellebores

Both gorgeous William

Many thanks for the comments. They are very valued.

These crown imperial groups are both in the same bed. It's sort of an experimental area where the hellebores live and the bulbs come to visit. Crown imperial are fun to use as they add an early vertical accent.

Time to show one of these groups shot from a completley different angle and with a wide angle lens:


Quite a different view!
I'm very happy to have been able to restore this dry area behind a big pine tree to once again host tulips. The deer ate all the Darwin tulips once growing here. Now I spray them. Sorry deer, no more food for you.

Someone might wonder if simply growing Crown Imperials don't deter deer. Well, I have seen deer eat happily on plants just beside them, so I would say that it didn't work for me. Others may have better luck and I would emphasize luck in that sentence.

Traditional Crown Imperials on their own are however 100% deer proof in my garden. This year I also grow quite a few low odor cultivars and no damage to them either. But this is early days and they grow among the others so might confuse hungry gormand deer some as they look the same. Time will tell.

Beautiful gardens and setting William!

Great pictures, William!

I like both helleboes and tulips and have plenty of both - but I am not sure about orange frits and pink tulips?
Think I have to agree with Dave; those hellebores go really well with orange frits!

My 3 F. pallidiflora finally opened!

William WOW WOW and in case I missed it WOW. I imagine in person it's a spectacular view I think with the Frits next to the white tulips it depends on what angle you're viewing from and with so many colors the orange frit and pink tulips are good together.

Lilli, hmm, welcome to the carnival of colors. I'm all about bold color chaos and mass plantings as this is the way I prefer to celebrate spring.

On a more serious note I thank you for your opinion and I value it I hope your F. pallidiflora lasts longer than my single bulb did. If you like its color you could also give F. raddeana a try if you haven't already done so.

:thankyou: , Ginny. Real happy you enjoyed the view as this has been a part of the garden I really enjoyed myself. Sadly in person there are quite a few beauty marks on the foliage and on some blooms as we had marble sized hail a week a go.

My garden is a riot of colours in spring too - and I too have both pink and orange - even in the same bed!

I have only tried F. raddeana from seed - no luck yet. But some of the F. camschatcensis, which were sown at the same time are up, so I haven't given up on the raddeanas ...yet!

Ah William, lovely; plus, you have such a way with words...and with the camera

I often have my wishfully planned spring combos result in some disappointing chaos because the bulbs end up being the wrong thing and/or bloom times are drastically different from the plan