Fritillaria meleagris | Snakeshead fritillary

How to establish a self-sustaining colony of this remarkable flower

Fritillaria meleagris is often found in the gardens of the most enthusiastic gardeners. Christopher Lloyd’s mother, Daisy Field, famously planted the first bulbs at Great Dixter in Kent and in this photo, Vanessa Cook has worked magic in her meadow at Stillingfleet Lodge in Yorkshire.

One of the plants that sets gardens apart to my mind, is snakeshead fritillary, Fritillaria meleagris, with its curling stem and hanging chequered flower resembling an alert snake’s head. There’s something exciting and luxurious about seeing them, a moment of pure magic.

Impossibly thin stems rise to hold the comparatively large and unusual dark purple or white flowers just above the fresh spring grass leaves of beautiful meadows and pasture, an impression of bubbles above the surface of champagne. Yet fritillaries are a luxury every gardener with the right conditions can grow.

Home to grasslands, Fritillaria meleagris is both easy to grow and notoriously fussy to establish. Get it right, and they make for…