Fritillaria imperialis 'Rubra Maxima'

Giants looking over the garden! For years I’ve only had three flowers but now finally I have four bulbs flowering size now, lots of little ones out of shot too. And that large yellow snake has reappeared in the garden 🐍, I mean it’s winter/early spring and I’m having to water cause it’s bone dry, what’s up with that?! 🤷🏼‍♂️ praying for rain today 🌧

#fritillaria #fritillariaimperialis #fritillaria-imperialis #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima #crownimperial

Lovely

My garden is the same, I'm watering too but I don't want rain until tonight if that's ok? I've got a fence to paint 😂

Fab, and yep need rain here too ☔

Desperate for rain here but I’m with @pelly 🤣🤣 Not until tonight, please! 😘😘

Very cool looking plant and flowers🌞

Beautiful! I wanted to paint my fence today too except it was forecast for rain. Guess what...no rain, so have been out watering!! 😂

Always wanted these but they never grew. 💕🌞

Every year I promise myself I will but some then I see your pic same time every year and it makes me realise I still never purchased any!! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Such a lovely view😍

The big boys, Fritillaria imperialis ‘Rubra Maxima’ ❤️ #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima #crownimperial #bestofapril

🧡 beautiful

Beautiful

Are your bulbs in the ground or container ? Iv got 3 growing in a container, wot should I do when they have died back. Any advice appreciated plz @richard.spicer.7906

Hi Christine, Rubra Maxima and Aurora are the only ones I have in ground, for about three years now. All my others are in pots but that was only a temporary measure as i ran out of time last year to find space in the ground. I’m planning to move all of them to the borders after flowers have finished and let them die off naturally. If you want to keep them in a pot long term, I think it depends if you plan to use the pot for other things for the rest of the year @brighton

💖They are so regal! @richard.spicer.7906

Now that, is a presence! 😍

Look like dancers in skirts 😉

Others in the garden are steaming ahead - 'Rubra Maxima' over a metre tall already. Braving the rain today... ☔️ 🙄 #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima #crownimperial

Back to three flowering stems this year, only had two last year in this clump.

Wow , something’s eaten mine Rich , think it’s a mouse 🐭!😢

Fabulous wish I had space for these 😍

Fab!

How beautiful! I couldn't success about my fritillaria imperialis aurora😢😢 @richard.spicer.7906

Fantastic

Whoa!!! Way ahead of mine!!

I need to get out and weed desperately, everything is coming up fast now! - crown imperials are already bursting through. Let the foxy 'fritillaria' season smell commence 😆😷 #crownimperial #fritillaria-imperialis #fritillaria #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima #fritillary (I don't actually mind the smell, it's really not that bad 👍🏼)

These are beautiful, and living in the country as we do, there are a lot worse smells!🌼🌼🌼

So do I Rich 😬😬👍

#upclose #newgrowth

Yay, here comes the stinker again! 👃🏼😷🌷

Not fond of the smell but lovely flowers

True, i can put up with the smell as it’s definitely worth growing them for the flowers. I’ve got some new ones this year, including a variegated one 👌🏼 @fisherman

I think I need a week off just to get through it Julie 😳😆 @juliesgarden

😆 - it’s like a spring stink bomb! @gardengimp

Do you still have your Ivory Bells Fritillary, Joan? I remember you bought some a couple of years ago @joanboston

I do Richard, but I planted it in the garden last year, and we have had such an awful winter here first wet then severe frosts, that I’m not optimistic if it making an appearance this year!

Oooo, the beginning of future magnificence! 😍

They have been the Crown Jewels in the border the last few weeks - Fritillaria imperialis 'Rubra Maxima' - #crownimperial #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

Stunning picture Richard. Fantastic.

Mine never came back 😏💁🏻‍♂️

Gorgeous photo, it definately lives up to its name!!! 💛❤️😍👌🏻

#bestofapril #stunning #orangeflowers #orangefritillary #orangecrownimperial

😍😍😍 wow you keep tempting me with this absolutely beautiful plant.... I've so got to get out to the GC next week and get one 🤗🤗🤗.... oh no Justin why do you think that was? did you plant it in a pot or border?.... @justin

In the border @harebell and have no idea.. some, some you win, some you lose 🤷🏻‍♂️

Yeah true 😥 maybe something got at the bulb like beetles 🤔,I'm planning on putting one in a pot see how that goes 🤞 @justin

Fab photo👏

Saw these today in Deene Park in Northampton - lovely in the border!

Absolutely stunning, I really need one of these @richard.spicer.7906

Fab colour! Love!

The Crown Imperials have just about almost reached the end of their season. Very majestic looking in front of the rhododendron 🤴🏼🌸 #crownimperial #fritillary #fritillaria-imperialis #fritillaria #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

Wonderful, mine just finished 😍

Beauties!

Gorgeous, will you just leave them in the ground 😊

So happy to see these bad boys making a return in the border! 😀💪🏼🤛🏼Although I doubt my neighbours will feel the same! 😷 #smellyfritillary 😂😂) #fritillary #fritillaria #crownimperial #fritillaria-imperialis #bulbs #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

Was looking for my yellow one yesterday and can't be found anywhere so thinking I might have lost it 💁🏻‍♂️

I love these can't wait to see a pic of the flower 😄

Love these, keep meaning to get some 🙄 I hope not @Justin 🙁

What do they smell like @richard.spicer.7906 ? 🤔

Quite pungent and foxy @gardengimp - some people don't grow them purely cause of the smell but whilst it's quite strong at first when they come through the soil, I find it's virtually gone within a couple of weeks before they flower.

You should try some Franca, although it would be cheaper waiting till autumn to get the bulbs. Garden centres will have pot grown specimens now available for blooms this year, but will tend to be a bit more expensive @titchyfra

Give it another couple of weeks @justin 👍🏼 - this is just the first shoot popping through, and I have six other bulbs which haven't surfaced yet so may just need a little more time 😀⏰

They are truly majestic Angie 😬 @angiecrazycatlady

I've never got up close and personal with a Fox so it always makes me laugh when I hear that these smell foxy 😂

#upclose #pong

Maybe it's the stink they leave behind after they've been sniffing around your bins or an allotment chicken coop ? 😛💩 @angiecrazycatlady

Fritillaria imperialis 'Rubra Maxima' - almost done, but looked stunning ❤️ #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #crownimperial #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

Gorgeous photo

Wow !!

Looks like they'd ring if you gave them a good shake! 😀

Stunning @richard.spicer.7906

Beautiful

Gorgeous! Spectacular! 👌 👌 👌

Pure class!

Fabulous photo 😉

#bestof2016

I've got Fririllaria envy

WOW 😍😍

Meanwhile these Crown Imperials are looking fantastic - the story behind these are they were supposed to be 'Lutea' but clearly I was sold the wrong one at the nursery as they are not yellow at all! I think they are 'Rubra' unless anyone disagrees? #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #crownimperial #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

Oooooooops. But yeah do look like Rubra. I think I prefer yours to mine! Swap?!

These are lovely x

Absolutely stunning @richard.spicer.7906.

Yep 'Rubra' and they're lovely!

#julieswishlist 😍😍😍

Thay are beauties

Lovely 😊

Haha @justin ! Might consider that seeing as I already had Rubra in another part of the garden, so I ended up with 6 Rubra bulbs instead of 3 of each 😕

Cheers Michael 😁👍🏼 @mikethegardener

Thanks @lyndag 😊

They are lovely Richard like them in red they look quite Royal out in time for The Queens 90th birthday

❤️ Crown imperials, and the smell has fully gone too. These are just under a metre tall now #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #crownimperial #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

Lovely shot 👍

Do they smell that bad Richard 😂😂

These are not quite the 'yellow' Lutea variety that I was led to believe I was buying, so I'll have to change the tag to unknown for the moment. But whatever the variety, these crown imperials are looking mighty fine. Lovely how the stems have changed to an almost black colour 🤓 #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #crownimperial #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

I prefer the orange ones. Gorgeous @richard.spicer.7906

Impressive

I prefer the orange ones too but it really annoys me when I buy bulbs and they are not what they were labelled as - often not even close to what they were labelled as. It happens to me all the time.

Frustrating!!!

Very regal 👑

Very stylish and stunning plant

There is a distinct smell around the borders at the moment with these Fritillaries popping up 😀 #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #crownimperial #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

Lovely depth of field to that pic

Thanks @Skotovstoy 😊

I put three of these in the ground last year will they show this year?

I noticed a niff around these at a garden centre at the weekend 😷 wasn't sure if it was them or not 🤔 @richard.spicer.7906 . Impressive plants 👍

Hi @lindamcmillan , they should do yes, I planted last autumn too - can you see any signs of them poking through yet? I've had two bulbs fail out of the seven that I planted. They can be prone to rot and you would normally need to plant these on their sides and maybe on a layer of grit. They have a cavity in the centre of the bulb and planting on its side helps avoid water sitting and collecting inside and causing rot.

They grow so quickly @debs69 - they only came up two weeks ago and they are almost flowering 😳. Funny thing about the smell, I heard my neighbours complaining about the whiff in the air at the weekend, couldn't face admitting to them it was these 😂

😂😂😂😂 it's a weird smell 😷

Is it a horrid pong?

Nah, I wouldn't say horrid. Just weird. Some websites describe it as 'Foxy' like.... @kathy

That's a pong! @richard.spicer.7906 they festoon it around our property liberally

Thanks for the info pity I cannot remember where I put them😡

Another Crown Imperial - this one is yellow. The roots look all bobbly 😂. As with other Fritillary's plant these on their side to help avoid rotting..... and yes I have washed my hands since this photo 😂😂😂 - I hate wearing gloves! #fritillary #fritillaria #fritillaria-imperialis #crownimperial #fritillariaimperialisrubramaxima

Planted 8th November

I never wear gloves either and my nails prove it @😮

Yes, and the downside with it is that my hands dry out a bit for a few days when I get this stuck in. Shea body butter from body shop works great though to fix this 👌🏼 @kathy

I recognise those hands.....oh i thought they were mine lol. 😂😂✋🏽✋🏽

😂😂 @fuschia

Bought some fritillaries yesterday in a sale at a big garden centre in Ambleside. Amazingly didn't buy any plants! @richard.spicer.7906

I was worried I was late as the roots are coming thick and fast but fingers crossed should be ok. Which ones did you get Joan? 😁 @joanboston

So I have a single bulb of fritillaria Ivory bells (£3.99) and five bulbs of michailovsky (£1.00) then daffs Green eyes (1.00) ten of them. All bargains. Some others had sold out. Shame. @richardspicer

I've got some F.michaelovski and daff Green Eyes too, planted in pots a couple of weeks back. The F. Ivory bells is the white version of F. Persica (purple) - it would be interesting to see how they compare. I'll keep you posted on mine. All the bargains are quickly going now. @joanboston

#bulbs