What these beauties are. Mr Radders and I inherited them when we bought our house years ago and every spring, without fail, they appear; slightly later this year, though I’m thinking this may be due to the awful winter we’ve had.
I think that they may possibly be some kind of fritillary – possibly Fritillaria meleagris aka Snakeshead Fritillary; a perennial usually to be found on damp meadowland. This is a distinct possibility as we have a very damp clay-type soil in our garden. Whatever they are, they’re beautiful and it always cheers me so much to see them, I feel like summer is on the way at last! Hopefully!
We have two clumps of these beauties and the photo below is a slightly smaller plant. Every year they go and every year I worry that winter will kill them off and they wont come back, but every year, miraculously, they return.
A lovely little bit of constancy in an ever-changing world.
Hope you are all well.
BTW If I have wrongly identified this plant and anyone thinks it may be something else I’d love to hear from you, so please do get in touch.
Bye for now Radders xx
We had some when we bought our house. They are long gone now, but I do believe they are exactly what you think they are. They are so beautiful aren't they?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment - I do love these flowers so, so much, I love their delicate purplish mauve pattern,like a little purple chessboard. I have looked them up in a garden book and we are both right - they are fritillaries.
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