The waxy, drooping bells of this handsome rock garden or sunny border plant are pale green on the outside and stained red-brown on the inside, and are carried on 12" to 18" stems, with alternating narrow grey green leaves. It is easy to grow in the bulb frame or alpine house, or a hot, sunny, free draining position if grown in the open ground. It increases rapidly by offsets, the bulb producing 10 or more bulblets in a season. They should not be disturbed, as the roots do not re-grow once broken. It grows naturally in pinewoods, fields and stony places up to 7000 ft in Southern Turkey and along the coast to Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus. ... Learn More

This excellent peat garden plant makes 20-40cm tall stems densely clothed in shiny, whorled leaves which surround stems bearing clusters of semi-pendent, deepest purple, almost black, flowers with contrasting yellow anthers. Native to colder areas of both the USA and Japan, and blooming in mid to late summer, this is a very good, vigorous, hardy garden plant for a slightly shaded, damp to seasonally wet, humus-rich soil. ... Learn More

Cone-shaped flowers of pure, brightest citron-yellow open on short stems, above thick, glaucous green-grey foliage, in March. This rarely seen or offered endemic from a small area in southern Greece, is easy to grow and is excellent in a pot, but hardy enough for outside in a well drained sunny spot, where it never fails to make a good display. Very few seeds collected. ... Learn More

This choice dwarf species from Turkey bears plump waxy bells of lime green which are heavily brushed with chocolate. It will survive in a well protected scree but is best grown in a pot in an alpine house. ... Learn More

With a dwarf stature and shiny, disproportionately large, brownish-purple bells, with a strong peppermint-green stripe along the petals, this spring plant, blooming between April and May, is a charmer, despite the the sombre sounding colours. The archetypal Greek fritillary, it is native to the Balkans (North-western Greece, Albania and southern Yugoslavia). where it thrives in woods, scrub and screes up to 2000m. ... Learn More

From late April, through May and into June, this fabulous plant bears a prominent whorl of bright, downward facing flowers at the top of the stem, topped by a 'crown' of small leaves, hence the name. While the wild form is usually orange-red, various colours are found in cultivation, ranging from nearly a true scarlet through oranges to yellow. In the wild it is native to a wide stretch from Anatolia across the plateau of Iran to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Himalayan foothills. Few good seeds collected. ... Learn More

This extremely rare and exquisite old variety produces, in April and May, spectacular clusters of up to six large, bell-shaped, clear yellow, purple-veined flowers, held erect on a paler stem, topped by crowns of pointy upright leaves. This RHS Award of Garden Merit winner is called in Persian 'Tears of Mary', because of the great drops of nectar at the base of each petal. Very few seeds collected. ... Learn More

These seeds have been collected from the very largest cultivar of this stately gem which is a guaranteed conversation starter when in flower. From late April, through May and into June, it bears a prominent whorl of bright, downward facing flowers at the top of the stem, topped by a 'crown' of small leaves, hence the name. While the wild form is usually orange-red, various colours are found in cultivation, ranging from nearly a true scarlet through oranges to yellow. In the wild it is native to a wide stretch from Anatolia across the plateau of Iran to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Himalayan foothills. Very few good seeds collected. ... Learn More

A rare and choice plant with narrow leaves and thin stems carrying pale lime green bells, with a musky perfume, chequered all over in darker green or in pink-flesh-purple tones, and with the edges of the petals picked out in red-brown. The flowering period extends from April to June. In the wild it comes from South-east France and north western Italy, where it thrives in scrub, open woods and rough grassy places in the foothills at about 1000m. ... Learn More

The snake’s head fritillary is one of the most exquisite jewels in the treasure house of British wild flowers with a long list of common names which also include, Checkered Daffodil, Chess Flower, Frog-cup, Leper lily and Guinea-hen Flower. The nodding bell shaped flowers are unmistakeable for their nodding heads, sometimes of pure white, or more frequently marked with a delicate chequerboard pattern in shades of purple. This rare British wild flower is now protected in its native meadows, but will always attract attention in a woodland garden, rockery, or naturalised in grass where they look magical. ... Learn More

The white form of this rare British native is rarely found in the wild. It flowers from March to May growing to between 15 and 40 cm in height. In the wild it is commonly found growing in grasslands in damp soils and river meadows and can be found at altitudes up to 800 metres, although it takes readily to garden culture where it makes a superb border plant or will even naturalise in long grass. ... Learn More

The snake’s head fritillary is one of the most exquisite jewels in the treasure house of British wild flowers with a long list of common names which also include, Checkered Daffodil, Chess Flower, Frog-cup, Leper lily and Guinea-hen Flower. The nodding bell shaped flowers are unmistakeable for their nodding heads, sometimes of pure white, or more frequently marked with a delicate chequerboard pattern in shades of purple. This rare British wild flower is now protected in its native meadows, but will always attract attention in a woodland garden, rockery, or naturalised in grass where they look magical. ... Learn More

This lovely Mediterranean species bears flowers that are borne in groups of one to three at the apex and are flared hanging bells of chequered brown and green with a green stripe down the centre of each petal. This attractive plant is one which is easily grown outside, in a sunny well-drained spot. ... Learn More

Pendent bell flowers of chequered plummy-brown and green, with a green stripe down the centre of each petal, and pure yellow inside, are borne in groups of one to three. This slender species has stems bearing narrow whorled leaves. A plant of alpine meadows and light woodland, and well adapted to gardens in temperate regions, this sub-species of Fritillaria messanensis originally comes from Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and the Ionian islands of Greece. In common with all fritillaries this choice plant is easily grown outside in a sunny well-drained spot. ... Learn More

Fritillaria michailovskyi is an unusual and striking dwarf fritillary, with several bell-shaped flowers, borne in late spring to early summer, and which are very dark purple with a bright yellow band at the outer end of each petal, and a shiny yellow and dark red interior. It can be easily grown in a pot, or even outside in a sunny, well-drained bed or a trough. Lance-shaped grey-green leaves grow out from upright stem. ... Learn More