Colours and shapes
Fritillarias come in sizes ranging from big to very small, and come in surprising and impressive colours: red, orange, yellow and purple and white with a chequered pattern. They also come in green with brown and orange spots, and burgundy with yellow edges and then there are some unusual colour variants: green with purple stripes and green with old rose. All in all there are some 100 different species.
It’s a very unusual bulb crop that needs to be handled with care. The bulbs have no skin so they are far more delicate than tulip bulbs. Be warned: if you have moles or mice around your house, they’ll be straight in there when they smell this happy spring plant!
Origin
There are some 100 species of the hanging flower, which originates from Afghanistan. In the wild they bloom alongside the river in damp meadows. Fritillaria arrived in Europe in 1575 and was brought from Constantinople to Vienna.
