Snake in the grass

Several years ago we planted a few hundred pea sized bulbs of Fritillaria meleagris into the meadow with the hope of adding some interest in the grass that had lost a lot of its biodiversity due to previous farming methods.

These snakeshead fritillaries are  bulbous perennials that love damp meadow conditions and being early to flower they don’t suffer with competition from tall lank grasses.  The bulbs aren’t expensive and are easy to plant with a hori-hori knife.  The blade is pushed into the turf, pulled back, and the bulb dropped into the hole to a depth of about 3 inches.  It doesn’t take long to plant a few hundred.

The beautiful nodding bells are wonderfully patterned with chequered markings leading to a number of vernacular names such as chequered lily, chequered daffodil, or chess flower.

We have a local reserve close to us that is home to 80% of the UK population.  They’re at their peak now.  We highly recommend a visit to see over 100 acres of this remarkable flower.  Located along the side of the infant River Thames the site is known as North Meadow, and is near Cricklade in Wiltshire.  Get there early to avoid other admirers and marvel at the haze of purple as far as the eye can see.