My parents came to visit in the weekend and brought me this wee surprise (below) from a garden centre in Cromwell. I had to look it up to find out where it would be best suited in my garden. Although I have to admit I always get a little nervous about putting gifts into my garden because I am worried I will move house and won't be able to take the plant with me. So at the moment the plant is in a pot on my porch. While I was contemplating whether to make this darling a permenent feature in my garden I found a little info on Frittaliria meleagris that I have paraphrased for your enjoyment and light reading.
"On sunless days in winter, we shall know
By whom the silver gossamer is spun,
Who paints the diapered fritillaries,
On what wide wings from shivering pine to pine the eagle flies."
Oscar Wilde refers to the little Checkered Lily (Fritillaria meleagris), as the "diapered frittalaries". Diapered is a very old traditional term for either a checkered pattern or the pattern known as "harlequin" or a checkerboard of diamonds.
Frittilaria hang their checkerboard heads in the last week of September and early October along with the emergence of grape hyacinth spikes. They have a load of other names including Missionbells and Snakeshead Lily (the unopened flower bud look somewhat like a snakes head) although they were formerly known as Narcissus caperonius or Caperon's Narcissus because they were first brought to England in 1572 by a druggist named Noel Caperon who found them in France. For many years thereafter they were thought originally to have been native primarily of France, but were eventually discovered to be a rare species native also to England.
As one of the longest-cultivated fritillaries, it was a regular feature in Elizabethan gardens. The checkered lily was also a native of damp meadows throughout Northwestern Europe, but is today disappearing over much of its natural range from habitat loss & humanity's population intrusions. It became endangered in England, where children picked them before they could complete their reproductive cycle and set seed. It is now protected & making a slow comeback in the south of England. And it will never be extinct for as long as people love them in gardens.
Design Sponge have created a beautiful flower arrangement of the checkered lily using a flower frog (the comb-like device you can see in the picture below). Grace Bonney explains in her post that Oasis used in most flower arrangements is "bad news. It’s made from petroleum and will never break down in a landfill" and that flower frogs are a eco friendly alternative. I will certainly be on the look out for one of these for the upcoming summer months of floral fun.
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