Getting the hang of the camera, so here goes with 2 of the few flowers that are in bloom in the front garden at the moment.
Lovely photos Jenny. I envy you your fritilarias - I don't seem to have much success with them. What's your secret ;) ;D
Jenny Jenny Jenny. That first picture is just wonderous! Frits are my number one most fave flower....I just adore the checker board pattern. Soooooooooooo jealous! I have them in my garden, but they are few and far between, they don't seem to like having cold wet feet...can't say I blame them. Wonderful!
;D
One word...Gorgeous!!!
;)
Jenny, fantastic pics and I am being introduced to plants that I didn't know existed.
(Why didn't I get interested in gardening 20 years ago? ;D)
Thank you. Lorna.
I used to find F. meleagris growing wild in the watermeadows below Oxford when I was a kid; I wonder whether they're still there.
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on April 21, 2006, 00:18:56
I used to find F. meleagris growing wild in the watermeadows below Oxford when I was a kid; I wonder whether they're still there.
They certainly are - lots of people working hard to make sure they stay there, too. They seem to have made it onto the oxford tourist must-see list, we've often noticed coach parties by the isis taking pictues of them.
Here in Cambridge, the botanic garden has the national collection - started by the author Martyn Rix, who did his PhD on fritillaries. Well worth seeing at the moment, although they're spread around several different locations in the alpine houses and woodland garden.
A couple of interesting facts (Well I thought they were anyway.) F. imperialis is the only plant growing in britain which is pollinated by birds rather than insects - blue tits drink the nectar. Fritillaries have more DNA (as a %age of weight) than any other plant or animal. No-one knows why.
That's interesting; I've been growing F. imperialis for years, and I've never seen an insect on it, so I was wondering what pollinated it. Can't say I've seen blue tits on it either. I've never visited Canbridge Botanic Carden, but I used to wander round the Oxford one a lot when I was a kid.
lovely ;D