NATURALISING SNAKE’S HEAD FRITILLARIES

The natural habitat for snake’s head fritillaries is damp pasture or water meadow, but they will also establish well in deciduous woodland, in a wild garden or even in a lawn – a poorly drained area is ideal. Plant the bulbs 10cm deep as soon as you receive them. In a lawn or meadow, mow the grass tightly in late autumn or early winter and then leave well alone. Before the flowers open, the leaves of the fritillary are indistinguishable from young grass shoots, so resist an early mow and leave untrimmed until the seedpods have ripened in summer to encourage the fritillaries to multiply and spread.