Scaly, stinky bulbs don’t mask the charm of snake’s head fritillary

The great English gardening writer, Vita Sackville West, described it as “a sinister little flower, in the mournful colours of decay” but I think there’s something both spritely and charming about the snake’s head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris), a plant whose graceful, typically chequered purple-and-white blooms decorate so many Irish gardens at this time of year.

One cold autumn day a few years ago, I planted no more than a handful of its tiny fleshy bulbs in the garden – some into a large pot, and the rest into a damp but sunny, grassy bank that’s never been mowed. Since then, this pretty plant has steadily multiplied, generously self-seeding itself about the place in a way that belies completely its appearance of fragility.

While not native to Ireland, the snake’s head fritillary once grew with abundance in the damp grasslands and meadows of many European countries, until modern agricultural methods dramatically reduced its numbers in the wild. In southeast England, it was so common that it was claimed as a British wildflower. Recent research, however, suggests that it was more likely introduced there as an ornamental plant in the late 1400s, gradually becoming naturalised over the following centuries to the point where baskets of its pretty spring flowers used to be regularly picked for London’s cut-flower market. I can easily understand why; those lantern-shaped flowers, dangling from slender grass-like stems, look exquisite as part of a spring arrangement.

The flowers of its altogether more stately cousin, the crown imperial, or Fritillaria imperialis, are also highly ornamental, so much so that the plant’s bright orange, scarlet or yellow flower clusters, with their odd green “mohawk” of floral leaves, were a particular favourite of many of the Dutch still-life artists of the 17th and 18th century, as well as later artists such as Van Gogh. Its decorative blooms typically appear in late April atop stout, fleshy stems that rise to a height of 90cm or so. It looks lovely growing en masse alongside other spring flowering plants including narcissus, tulips, pulmonaria and primula as well as the earlier flowering euphorbias.

I first came across this spring flower as a horticultural student, when I helped to plant its large, strangely scaly, fleshy bulbs as part of a massed display. Like all parts of the crown imperial, these have a very strong smell, reminiscent of the lingering scent of a fox. I didn’t, and still don’t, find it unpleasant (to tell the truth, I rather like it) but other gardeners sometimes object, to the point that plant breeders are searching for ways to isolate the gene that causes it.

The crown imperial needs a rich, moist but free-draining soil that dries out a little in summer. Cultivated varieties include Lutea (yellow), the slightly more compact, earlier flowering Rascal Chopin (orange) and William Rex (bronze-orange). A word of warning when it comes to the autumn planting of the fragile, fleshy bulbs, which are hollow, making them prone to rotting. To avoid this, lay them on their side, while making sure to bury them deeply (25cm). In very heavy soils, it’s also worth adding a layer of horticultural grit to the bottom of the planting hole to help with drainage.

Sheltered gardens

The same goes for the lovely Fritillaria persica, a plant that I have never grown myself but which grows happily in many Irish gardens. The species produces tall, decorative flower spikes in a slightly funereal shade of chocolate-maroon, but there’s also a charming pale-flowered form, F. Ivory Bells, which looks delicious when partnered with paler flowering varieties of daffodils. Both plants reach an average height of 80cm. Flowering from March to late May, they need a sheltered garden to flourish. Just like their cousins, they look lovely in a seasonal cut-flower arrangement.

Some of the many other, smaller flowering species of Fritillaria can also be found growing in Irish “alpine” or rock gardens include F. latakaiensis, F. whitallii and F. michailovskyii. The latter species was discovered only in the 1960s, growing in the wild in the mountainous regions of northeast Turkey. Unlike my beloved snake’s head fritillary, it’s a fussy customer that demands a very free-draining soil and won’t tolerate winter wet, making it one for the specialist gardener.

One final word of warning . . . as members of the lily family, all fritillarias are vulnerable to attack from the lily beetle and its grubs, a recent arrival in Irish gardens (first spotted in Northern Ireland in 2002) but a pest that’s become widespread in the UK in recent years.

The adult beetle is easily identifiable by its scarlet wings and thorax. Its revolting larvae are, to quote the RHS website, “usually hidden under their own black excrement”, while the orange-red sausage-shaped eggs can be found on the undersides of the plant’s leaves. Both adults and larvae feed on the leaves and petals of fritillarias at this time of year, before the adult burrows into the ground to pupate. The best way to control infestations is to inspect plants regularly and, if you spot the beetle, its larvae or the eggs, to squash them immediately. For a visual aid to identification, see rhs.org.uk.

This week in the garden If you're one of the many Irish gardeners who fell in love with Airfield's beautiful annual pictorial meadows last summer, now is the time to have a stab at growing your own. A range of suitable seed mixes are available from mrmiddleton.com, and should be sown from now until early May. Sow shallowly into damp, weed-free bare soil raked to a fine tilth, bearing in mind that most annual meadow mixes require a sunny, open, free- draining spot. For more about pictorial meadows, see /iti.ms/1T16nOo, my column of September 12th, 2015. Now is also the time to get busy sowing vegetable seed, either into modules/cell trays under cover, or directly into the ground as long as the soil isn't too chilled and sodden as a result of recent heavy rainfall. The following vegetables can all be sown this month: peas, beetroot, radish, turnips, cabbage, chard, spinach, parsnips, leeks, kale, lettuce, and herbs including dill, coriander, parsley and borage. Seed potatoes can also be planted now, as well as onion sets. Recommended suppliers of seed of heritage Irish vegetable varieties include brownenvelopeseeds.com and irishseedsavers.ie

Dates for your diary

Wednesday, April 20th (8pm) Three Rock Rovers Hockey Club, Grange Road, Rathfarnham. Floral art demonstration by Christopher White. See rhsi.ie Friday, April 22nd (10am to noon), The Garden House, Malahide. Scentsational Planting, a masterclass by Marie Staunton on how to add colour and scent to your garden. Admission €15. See thegardenhouse.ie Saturday, April 23rd (1.30pm to 4pm), Cabinteely Community School, Johnstown Road, Cabinteely. Alpine Garden Society show and plant sale. €3. See alpinegardensociety.ie Sunday, April 24th (11am to 5pm), Ennis showgrounds, Co Clare. Clare Garden Festival with plant sales, show gardens and guest speakers Kitty Scully, Jim Cronin, Angela Jupe, Mateo Petitti and Bruno Nicolai. See claregardenfestival.com