Fritillaria meleagris

Fritillaria meleagris
“Checkered lily” “snakes head fritillary” “Chess flower” “”Frog cup”
LILIACEAE

Herbaceous Perennial

Zone: 3 – 8
Native habitat : Europe and Western Asia

Conditions
Soil: humus rich
Moisture: moist, well-drained
Light: full sun to part shade
Exposure: general
Plant size (h x w): 12″
Other: can take drier conditions in summer when dormant

Aesthetic
Shape/stem: arching, clump forming
Leaf: lance-shaped, greyish-green
Flower: 1-2 nodding bell shaped checkerboard, colours in purple range; flowers quite quickly from bulb
Bloom: April
Other: dormant in the summer;

Treatment (how to…)
Plant: plant 4 times its size; will naturalize around a bit
Maintain:  low maintenance, will die back naturally
Propagate: seed, or bulb offsets (dig up quickly in summer)

Uses
Landscape: drifts, informal lawn, containers, flower boarder, cottage, rock garden, flower meadow 
Companion planting: naturalizes in an informal lawn, under a deciduous tree, with itself in drifts
Medicinal: none known
Other:

Vulnerabilities
Pests and disease: none significant; slugs and snails eat
Deer resistant: yes
Other animals:

Interest
Local info,: not native
Pot size (to purchase): 6″
Nature: delicate lovely checkered lily
Identification (key features): checked pattern on handing lily-like flowers
Interesting facts: Fritillaria in Latin is fritillus meaning dice-box (chequered pattern on the flowers) and  meleagris means “spotted like a guineafow”
Cultivars: F. m. ‘var. unicolor subvar. alba (syn F. m. ‘Alba’) (white is a true variegation)
Comments: endangered in some of its natural habitats