Muscari, Wild Tulips and Fritillaria

Each new week of winter has brought forth a new palette of colours and perfumes from the bulbous plants. In this week's notes we are featuring photographs taken in the gardens this week of some of the first heralds of spring. The past week the stars have been the Muscari and Tulipa species. The richly perfumed muscari and wild tulip species celebrate the end of winter and the coming warmth with a display that is as timely as it is beautiful. The following are images from Lambley this week.

Tulipa kaufmanniana	Tulipa bakeri 'Lilac Wonder'	Tulipa kaufmanniana 'The First'
Tulipa sogdiana	Tulipa cretica	Tulipa fosteriana 'Concerto'
Muscari ambrosiacum	Muscari azureum	Muscari armeniacum 'Mt Hood'
Muscari armeniacum 'Blue Star'	Muscari armeniacum 'Blue Star'	Muscari armeniacum 'Baby's Breath'

Whenever an article on Fritillarias appears in the glossy gardening magazines, invariably the images featured are of F. meleagris in the fields surrounding Oxford. One consequence is that the members of this Genus have come to be associated with cool and damp climates. It's a shame as there are countless Fritillaria that are well-suited to a dry summer climate like ours.

		Fritillaria
Fritillaria michailovskyi		Fritillaria sibthorpiana	Fritillaria uva vulpis

* This week David has been out of the office and today's entry has been provided by staff