Peach hazel grouse planting and care. Hazel grouse (Fritillaria) - “perennial chess player”: planting and care

Some species of this plant have variegated colors, very similar to a chessboard. This is what gave the flower its name. According to other sources, the plant received its name not so much for its color as for its flower shape, which resembles a vessel. One way or another, fritillaria flowers are found more and more often in flower beds today, because the beautiful shape and bright juicy color of the bud will decorate any composition.

Fritillaria: landing

The main feature of the planting material is unprotected scales, which must remain intact and juicy. If there is any damage in the form of creases, cuts or rot, they will cause the bulbs to dry out and die. All this should be taken into account when purchasing planting material.

For planting, we select a place on a small hill so that stagnant water never forms there. If there is no such place, we make an embankment artificially. Before planting, fill the bottom of the wide hole with sand. The depth of the hole is different for each variety. If you have selected low-growing varieties, 12 cm is enough; for tall varieties, the depth of the hole should be about 20 cm. We choose only coarse-grained sand for drainage.

Before planting fritillaria, we disinfect the bulbs. A solution of potassium permanganate is suitable for these purposes, after which we must powder everything with crushed coal. Place the bulbs on their sides only, then sprinkle with sand. Then moisture will not accumulate between the scales and rotting processes will not begin.

If after purchasing, planting fritillaria is not possible and you need to save the bulbs, caring for them is to prevent drying out. We place the blanks in damp peat or, then put them in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. The time when you need to plant fritillaria is September-October. If you do not have time to do the work within this time frame, you can plant it later. Just be sure to cover the planting areas with leaves and.

Fritillaria: reproduction

The flower propagates vegetatively or by seeds. The seed method is great for all species and you only need two plants that are in the flowering period. Immediately after pollination, the seed capsule will begin to form. As it matures, it will take a vertical position. After its walls have dried, you can collect the seeds.

It is necessary to sow immediately after harvest. The soil must be prepared, well enriched with organic matter. The fact is that the seedlings will remain in it for a couple of years until they get stronger. To plant fritillaria flower seeds, make furrows approximately 10 cm wide and 1 cm deep. After sowing, mulch everything with a 2cm layer of peat. Next year in the spring the first shoots will appear.

When one mother bulb forms several replacement bulbs, you can begin vegetative propagation. When digging, the children are relatively easily separated and there are no problems with subsequent planting. It should be borne in mind that often one or two bulbs remain in the ground and after a year new shoots appear there. So it is not recommended to change varieties in one place every year.

Fritillaria: care

Now let's focus directly on the rules of planting and caring for fritillaria.

In a flowering garden bed in spring, the imperial hazel grouse stands out with special grandeur. Bright flowers are beginning to please the eyes of gardeners as one of the first plants to bloom.

Description of the species

Imperial hazel grouse or fritillaria (Fritillaria imperialis) is a bulbous plant from the daylily family. The homeland of hazel grouse is the Himalayas, from where the plant came to Europe in the 16th century.

The imperial hazel grouse is a peduncle up to 1.5 meters high, on top of which there are large bell-shaped flowers. The stem is crowned with a lush bunch of green foliage. At the base of the peduncle, pointed leaves are arranged in several layers. The flowers of the imperial fritillary can be yellow, orange, terracotta or red.

Planting a flower

It is the correct planting of the bulb that determines whether the hazel grouse will bloom next year. To avoid mistakes when planting a plant, you need to adhere to the following recommendations:

• The optimal planting time is the end of August and the beginning of September. Later planting has a negative impact on the development of the plant; it does not have time to take root and may die in winter.
• The flower should be placed on sunny areas, well protected from drafts.
• Before planting the bulbs, the area in which they will grow must be dug up and fertilized. To improve the drainage characteristics of the soil, you can add a small amount of river sand to it.

• It is better to prepare the holes in advance. It’s a good idea to sprinkle a little sand, humus or compost at the bottom of the hole. The depth of the hole should be at least 30-40 cm.
• The general rule to use when planting bulbs is that the depth of the hole should be equal to 3 times the height of the bulb. Thus, for large flowering bulbs with a diameter and height of about 10 cm, the planting hole should be at least 30-40 cm deep, and smaller specimens can be planted to a depth of about 15-20 cm.
• The holes should be spaced at a distance of 35-45 cm from each other.
• It is better to place the onion in the hole slightly inclined (so that moisture does not accumulate in the scales) and sprinkle sand on top. The top of the hole can be mulched.

It is necessary to water the planted flower all autumn, until the first frost, so that the root system has time to develop sufficiently.

How and when to plant fritillaria correctly (video)

Caring for fritillaria in the fall

Proper planting of the bulb is only half the success in the process of growing hazel grouse. The rest of success is proper plant care.

Hazel grouse has a relatively short period of growth and flowering - from April to July. During this time, two feedings are carried out with mineral or organic fertilizers - before and after the plant blooms.

The rest of the time, caring for hazel grouse consists of regular watering and mulching the plant. You need to loosen the soil around the flower with extreme caution, because... fritillaria roots often grow upward, towards the surface of the earth, and they can be accidentally damaged.

After flowering ends, the upper part of the flower begins to slowly die off. At this time, you can cut off the peduncle, but in no case should you completely remove the foliage from the plant, otherwise the bulb will not receive nutrients and will stop growing.

In the second half of June, the bulbs are dug up. Next, they are cared for in the following way: they are cleaned of soil and dry parts, disinfected in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and laid to dry. The storage area for bulbs should be dry and well ventilated. And in August-September the bulbs are planted in the ground again.

How does the imperial hazel grouse reproduce?

You can get new young plants vegetatively, by dividing the bulb, or grow them from seeds.

Vegetative method

When an adult bulb is dug out, the children are carefully separated from it. They are cared for in the same way as for adult tubers. Young bulbs are disinfected, dried and planted in the ground in the fall. If the children are small, then they need to be raised for several years before they bloom.

In winter, beds with young plants need to be insulated by covering them with soil.

Reproduction by dividing the bulb

Large healthy mother bulbs are selected for this operation. Using a sharp, disinfected knife, divide the onion into two halves. The cut of each part is disinfected in potassium permanganate and sprinkled with ash. Next, each half is planted as a separate plant. Flowering may occur as early as next year.

Growing hazel grouse from seeds

This method of propagation is used only by those gardeners who breed imperial hazel grouse in large quantities. The period of time from the moment of sowing the seeds to obtaining an adult flowering plant can be up to 7 years. After flowering ends, boxes with small black seeds form in the upper part of the stem. They are collected and planted in light soil in mid-autumn. The planting depth should not exceed 10 cm.

For the winter, the beds are covered with leaves. In the spring, after the first shoots appear, seedlings are cared for in the same way as adult plants.

Diseases and pests

Imperial hazel grouse is rarely affected by viral infections. Rotting of tubers can occur mainly if the bulbs are not properly cared for and their storage conditions are violated.

If rot is detected on tubers, it must be removed immediately by cutting out the damaged part of the bulb. Disinfect the cutout area with potassium permanganate and sprinkle with ash or crushed coal. The “treated” bulb must be planted in a new place to prevent re-rotting.

Among the pests, the greatest danger to hazel grouse are lily beetles and rattle bugs. The larvae of these pests cause particular damage to the plant. If insects and larvae are found on the stem, they must be collected manually or the plant must be treated with a fungicide.

Why hazel grouse don't bloom (video)

Application in landscape design

Hazel grouse is used mainly as a group planting against the background of a lawn. The plant also looks very advantageous near bodies of water.

In mixed plantings they are planted next to other bulbous plants - tulips and daffodils.

If you don’t want a drying plant to spoil the appearance of the flowerbed, you can place irises around the imperial hazel grouse planting, which bloom a little later and will cover up the unsightly appearance of faded hazel grouse.

Simple care and maintenance of fritillaria allow even inexperienced gardeners to grow on their plot a worthy “king” of the flowerbed - the imperial hazel grouse.

Fritillaria, Fritillaria, fritillaria (fritillaria). Bulbous plants, from 10 to 100 cm in height. The flowers are bell-shaped, drooping, from 2 to 6 cm in diameter, white, green, red, brown or yellow.

Types and varieties of hazel grouse

The genus includes 179 species of bulbous plants growing in temperate zones of Europe, Asia, and North America. In the conditions of central Russia, two species are most stable in cultivation and widely distributed in ornamental gardening; about 40 more species are found in amateur collections.

According to the size and shape of the bulbs, the outlines of the stamens, nectaries, the shape and color of flowers and leaves, the methods of attaching leaves to the stems and the origin, all types of hazel grouse are divided into 6 sections;

Section I Eufritillaria includes a large number of species (divided into 4 groups) originating from Western Europe, the Mediterranean and Western Asia;

Section II Petilium groups larger species native to Turkey, Turkmenistan, Northeastern Iraq and Iran, and the Western Himalayas;

Section III Theresia includes 1 species - Persian hazel grouse ( Fritillaria persica), originating from Western Asia;

Section IV Rhinopetalum contains species from Afghanistan and Western China;

Section V Korolkowia represented by one type Severtsov's hazel grouse (Fritillaria severzowii);

Section VI Liliophiza includes species from North America.

Grouse bulbs are not covered with dense protective scales, so they can dry out quickly. Their size largely depends on the species. Usually they consist of two fused fleshy scales, between which the exit point of the stem is visible.

Section I Eufritillaria

The most popular species not only of the first group, but also of the entire botanical genus is the checkered hazel grouse (Fritillaria checkerboard).

Checkered hazel grouse, checkerboard fritillaria (Fritillaria meleagris)

In cultivation since 1572. Species name meleagris means “spotted plumage color,” like a hazel grouse or black grouse.

Plant up to 35 cm tall. The leaves are linear-lanceolate, narrow. The flowers are single, less often two, bell-shaped, drooping, brownish-violet with a clear checkerboard pattern, up to 2.5 cm in diameter. Blooms in late spring for 2-3 weeks.

Relatively unpretentious. Prefers semi-shaded places, light fertile soils without stagnant moisture. It can grow in one place for many years without transplanting. Plants are dug up only for propagation in order to plant a nest of bulbs. Under favorable conditions, it quickly spreads on its own and runs wild.

The species has many garden forms and variations.

Popular varieties of hazel grouse:

Checkered hazel grouse "Aphrodite"- white flowers 20-40 cm high have green markings on both the inner and outer sides;

Checkerboard hazel grouse Artemis" - large purple flowers with green markings, stem height - 30-40 cm, the variety has been known since 1947;

Checkered hazel grouse "Charon"- dark flowers with barely visible marks, cultivated since 1947, height of peduncles - 20-25 cm;

Checkered hazel grouse "Jupiter"- garden form, distinguished by especially large flowers, bred in 1947, dark red flowers with a clear checkerboard pattern, plant 20-25 cm high;

Checkered hazel grouse "Mars"- dark purple flowers are located on stems 20-30 cm high;

Checkered hazel grouse "Orion"— this garden form is similar to " Jupiter", but differs from it in the violet-purple color of the flowers with a light speckled pattern;

Checkered hazel grouse "Pink Eveline"- the flowers are pink, over time they become white or gray, the height of the peduncles is 40-50 cm;

Checkerboard hazel grouse Poseidon" - flowers are white with purple markings;

Checkered hazel grouse "Saturnus"- the flowers are large, red-violet, covered with light spots, the height of the peduncles is 20-25 cm.

Checkered hazel grouse variety Alba (Alba) is a white-flowered form, known since 1982, forms stems up to 20 cm high, with a green spot located near the nectaries.

Mikhailovsky's hazel grouse, Mikhailovsky's fritillaria (Fritillaria michailowskyi)

Section I Eufritillaria, group C

Homeland - North-Eastern Türkiye. The species was described in 1904 by Mikhailovsky, but became truly popular after it was discovered in Turkey in 1983.

This hazel grouse has low (about 20 cm) stems with red-purple flowers with yellow edges. The inner surface of the perianths is also canary yellow.

Stable species, requires well-permeable soil for normal development.

Mikhailovsky's hazel grouse, Mikhailovsky's fritillaria (Fritillaria michailowskyi)

The most famous - imperial hazel grouse (Fritilaria imperialis) and checkerboard (F. meleagris) are relatively easy to reproduce in culture. Mikhailovsky's hazel grouse (F.michailowskyi), Pontian grouse (F. pontica) and pale-flowered grouse (F. pallidiflora) do not reproduce independently in the garden, but aged bulbs can be easily replaced with fresh ones.

Fritillaria acmopetala, Fritillaria acmopetala

Homeland - meadows of Asia Minor and Western Asia, Cyprus, Türkiye, Syria. The species was introduced to Europe in 1874.

Stems are 20-30 cm tall. The leaves are linear-lanceolate. The flowers are bell-shaped, usually solitary, usually contrasting green-brownish or olive-green with brown markings. Blooms in May.

Grows well in any soil in light and partial shade. The species is stable in culture. Produces a large number of daughter bulbs.

Caucasian hazel grouse, Caucasian fritillaria (Fritillaria caucasica)

Section I Eufritillaria

Homeland - mountain meadows of the Caucasus and Asia Minor.

The bulbs are 1-1.5 cm in diameter. Stems are 10-25 cm tall with 2-3 bluish leaves and single drooping narrow bell-shaped dark red-brown flowers with a bluish bloom on the outside. Blooms in early May.

For planting, choose open areas with rich soils. Propagated by daughter bulbs and seeds. It blooms 4-5 years after sowing.

Grown mainly in botanical gardens. The species is stable in culture.

Yellow hazel grouse, yellow fritillaria (Fritillaria lutea)

Section I Eufritillaria

Homeland - mountain meadows of the Caucasus and Asia Minor.

Stems are 7-10 cm tall, leaves are green, lanceolate. The flowers are large, 4-5 cm long, yellow with a checkerboard pattern. Specimens with white flowers are known. Blooms in mid-May.

The species grows both in light and in partial shade, on rich, loose soils. Propagated by seeds. Blooms 3-5 years after sowing.

Checkerboard fritillaria, or small fritillaria, checkerboard fritillaria, or small fritillaria (Fritillaria meleagroides)

Section I Eufritillaria

Homeland - meadows, edges of floodplain forests, the south of European Russia, Ciscaucasia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan.

The bulbs are 1-1.5 cm in diameter. Stems up to 50 cm tall, with alternately arranged narrow-linear leaves. There are 1-2 flowers on one stem, less often 3. Dark brown flowers with a bluish bloom, bell-shaped, 2-3 cm long. There is a form with white flowers. Blooms in mid-May.

The species prefers illuminated areas with well-drained soils. It reproduces mainly by seeds. Blooms in 3-5 years.

Quite rare in culture. Less stable than checkered hazel grouse.

Mountain grouse, mountain fritillaria (Fritillaria montana)

Section I Eufritillaria, group C

Homeland - the south of France, Italy and the former Yugoslavia, as well as in Northern Greece, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania. Despite the fact that it began to be cultivated back in 1832, it still remains little known.

The bulbs are 2 cm in diameter. From a rosette of grayish-green leaves rise peduncles 15-40 (up to 60) cm high, bearing 1-3 short bell-shaped flowers of green color. On the outside they are so densely covered with black-purple or brown spots that the green tone is visible only from the inside. The earliest flowering species of hazel grouse (early to mid-May).

Plants develop well under the branches of shrubs in any well-permeable soil. In summer it needs increased watering. The species is stable in culture. Gives self-seeding and a large number of children.

Fritillaria pallidiflora, Fritillaria pallidiflora

Section I Eufritillaria, group A

Homeland - alpine and subalpine meadows, Eastern Siberia, Northwestern China, Kazakhstan. Middle Asia.

The species was discovered back in 1887 by E. von Regel, director of the Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg.

Bulbs up to 4 cm in diameter. The stems, 20-80 cm high, are covered with gray-green bluish broadly lanceolate leaves and at the tops bear 5-9 large drooping pale yellow bell-shaped flowers. Blooms at the end of May.

In the first few years after planting, it blooms irregularly. The species likes the soil to remain moist throughout the summer. Grows well in light and partial shade, on any soil without stagnant water. Reproduces vegetatively (by daughter bulbs) and seeds. It blooms 3-5 years after sowing.

One of the most stable hazel grouse in the culture.

Pyrenean hazel grouse, Pyrenean fritillaria (Fritillaria pyrenaica)

Section I Eufritillaria, group C

Homeland - mountain meadows of the Pyrenees and northwestern Spain.

Stems are 15-30 cm tall. The flowers are elongated bell-shaped, about 2.5 cm long, dark purple outside, yellow (olive green) inside. The tips of the perianth lobes are curved outward. Flowering in May.

Open drained areas with any soil. The species is stable in culture. Occasionally grown in botanical gardens.

Russian hazel grouse, Russian fritillaria (Fritillaria ruthenica)

Section I Eufritillaria

Homeland - floodplain meadows, edges and clearings of deciduous forests, steppes. Middle zone and south of European Russia, Ciscaucasia, south of Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine.

Bulbs up to 2 cm in diameter. Stems up to 70 cm tall with linear, partly alternate, partly whorled (lower) leaves. The uppermost leaves have “antennae”. The dark flowers are bell-shaped, reddish-brown, 1.5-2.5 cm long, rarely solitary, usually 3-10 pieces, up to 30. Plants with white and double flowers are found in nature. Blooms at the end of May.

The species grows on any soil, in light and shade. It reproduces mainly by seeds and self-sows. It blooms 4-6 years after sowing. The species is stable, but rare in culture.

Thunberg's hazel grouse, Fritillaria thunbergii

Section I Eufritillaria, group B

Homeland: China, Japan. At home, it is grown in large quantities to make cough syrup. It came to Europe in 1830.

The height of the stems is 30-80 cm. Each of them produces up to 6 usually drooping, but sometimes erect white flowers with green veins on the outside and brown markings on the inside of the perianth. During the flowering period, the stems must be provided with supports.

Section I Eufritillaria, group D

Homeland - mountain meadows of Asia Minor, Iran, Iraq, Eastern Türkiye.

The height of the stems is 10-35 cm. The leaves are linear-lanceolate. The flowers are solitary, bell-shaped, no more than 3 cm long, usually greenish-brown tones (dark brown on the outside, olive on the inside). A yellow stripe runs along the edge of the perianth. Blooms in May. Illuminated areas with any soil, prefers moist soil. Rocky gardens with groups of different flowers, contrasting in color, and hazel grouse. Stable. Unpretentious. Gives a large number of children.

Fox tongue hazel grouse, foxberry hazel grouse

It is often grown in botanical gardens. In Europe it is also grown for cutting.

Section II Petilium

Imperial hazel grouse, imperial fritillaria (Fritillaria imperialis)

Section II Petilium

Homeland - Türkiye. The most common species in cultivation, it came to Europe back in 1580. Carolus Clusius (Clusius) planted its first specimens in the HORTUS botanical garden in Leiden. Over the course of just one century, more than 30 variations were developed. Now there are about 20 modern forms of this species.

A plant with large, up to 15 cm in diameter, bulbs that have an unpleasant odor and a hole in the center. The stem is powerful, up to 100 cm in height and higher. The stem leaves are broadly lanceolate, collected in whorls. The flowers are bell-shaped, drooping, up to 6 cm in diameter, orange with red-brown veins, with a purple-brown spot at the base, collected 6-12 in a whorl at the top of the stem. Garden forms may take on a different color. Blooms in spring, 11-13 days. After flowering, the above-ground part dies off until next spring.

Prefers warm areas in the partial shade of deciduous trees. Requires loose, nutritious soil and does not tolerate waterlogging. Only completely decomposed humus is used as an organic soil amendment. Plants suffer from soil moisture in the summer, during the dormant period, so it is recommended to dig up the bulbs annually after the stems die and plant them again in flower beds in late September - early October. Plant the bulbs obliquely so that moisture does not enter the central hole. In the spring, during the period of leaf growth, the plants are fed with complete mineral fertilizer. They are propagated by baby bulbs, which are formed with different intensity in different varieties.

Popular varieties of imperial hazel grouse:

Imperial hazel grouse "Aureomarginata"- a garden form, known since 1665, orange-yellow flowers with a pattern of red veins, located on stems up to 90 cm high. The leaves are bordered with yellow stripes. The variety is not winter-hardy;

Imperial hazel grouse "Aurora"- low-growing form, flowering stems do not exceed 60 cm, orange-red flowers, may suffer from night spring frosts;

Imperial hazel grouse Lutea" - the variety has been cultivated since 1665, the height of the stems is 80-100 cm, the flowers are golden-yellow with a network of purple veins;

Imperial hazel grouse "Maxima Lutea"- a form reminiscent of variation "Lutea", only larger in size, cultivated since 1867, height of peduncles - 120 cm;

Imperial hazel grouse "Premier"- peduncles 80-100 cm high, orange flowers with light purple veins;

Imperial hazel grouse "Prolifera" ("Kroon op Kroon" ("Crown on a crown")- orange-red flowers form two tiers, located one above the other;

Imperial hazel grouse Rubra" - flowers are reddish-orange;

Imperial hazel grouse "Rubra maxima"- flowers are very large, orange, stems 80-100 cm high, cultivated since 1665;

Imperial hazel grouse "Sulferino"- an old variation with orange flowers covered with a network of red-purple veins, 80-100 cm high;

Imperial hazel grouse "William Rex"- an old variation, named after William III, the flowers are dark red.

Edward's hazel grouse, Edward's fritillaria (Fritillaria eduardii)

Section II Petilium

View is identical imperial hazel grouse (F. imperialis), Moreover, the name "imperial hazel grouse" is a priority.

Flower growers sometimes call "imperial hazel grouse" - cultivars, and Edward's hazel grouse - specimens from nature.

Radde's hazel grouse, Radde's fritillaria (Fritillaria raddeana, Fritillaria askabadensis)

Section II Petilium

Homeland - meadows of the middle and lower mountain zones of Turkmenistan and Iran.

Entitled Fritillaria raddeana Sometimes a yellow-green-flowered garden form of the imperial hazel grouse, of Dutch origin, is grown.

The bulbs are 5-10 cm in diameter, and in comparison with the bulbs of the Radde hazel grouse, they are longitudinally elongated. Stems up to 100 cm tall with densely spirally arranged lanceolate leaves, leafless in the upper third, crowned at the very top with plumes of leaves with six drooping flowers of a wide bell-shaped shape, pale yellow, up to 6 cm long . It blooms in early May, a little earlier than the flowering of the imperial hazel grouse.

Unlike imperial hazel grouse bulbs, Radde fritillary bulbs do not require annual summer digging and drying. Prefers sunny areas and rich, well-drained soils. Propagated by seeds. It blooms 7-10 years after sowing. The species is relatively stable, but rare in culture.

Section VI Liliophiza

Kamchatka hazel grouse, Kamchatka fritillaria (Fritillaria camschatcensis)

Homeland: floodplain meadows, alder forests of the Far East, Japan and North America. The species appeared in Europe in 1757. In the USA, it is distributed everywhere from Alaska to Washington.

Bulbous perennial 25-40 cm high. Bulbs up to 3 cm in diameter. Flowers from 1 to 8 per stem, dark purple, almost black in color. Blooms from May to June. Doesn't bear fruit.

The species prefers light partial shade and fertile soil. After the flowering period, it continues to need abundant watering. Propagated by daughter bulbs.

Two-flowered hazel grouse (Fritillaria biflora)

Section VI Liliophiza, group C

Homeland - North America.

Chocolate flowers, miniature. The color can vary from dark chocolate to a greenish tint with spots. An emerald stripe sometimes runs across the surface of the perianth.

Popular variety "Martha Roderick"- cultural variation Gray's hazel grouse (F. biflora subsp. grayana), which appeared as a result of natural hybridization two-flowered hazel grouse (Fritillaria biflora) and purdy (Fritillaria purdyi). Stems up to 20 cm high bear 3-5 flowers. Outside, the flowers are brown-purple with white spots on the top, inside - green with brown streaks.

Related hazel grouse, or fritillaria related (Fritillaria affinis)

Section VI Liliophiza, group C

Homeland - North America.

The height of the stems is 40-60 cm, but there are variations with much more powerful peduncles. The flowers are bell-shaped, pendulous, collected in groups of 12 at the top of the stem. Their color varies from yellow to purple.

The species requires well-permeable soil and light partial shade.

Varieties of related hazel grouse:

"Limelight"- stems 40-60 cm high bear green flowers covered with dark olive spots;

"Wayne Roderick"- a cultivar developed in China, the color of the flowers varies from brown with emerald spots and green tips to almost black with brown or red markings.

Gray hazel grouse, gray fritillaria (Fritillaria glauca)

Section VI Liliophiza, group C

Homeland - North America.

The plant is 15 cm tall, crowned with long golden-yellow flowers, covered with brown speckles on the inside. The color of the leaves varies from light green to bluish-gray.

In Europe, this species is often cultivated in greenhouses.

Buying hazel grouse

You need to buy hazel grouse bulbs as early as possible (late August - early September) and plant them immediately: they do not have dry covering scales, so they quickly lose their viability. At late autumn sales, the bulbs are usually substandard and overdried.

Grouse care

In nature, hazel grouse are confined to a variety of habitats, and therefore growing conditions and care are selected depending on the type of plant.

Peculiarities of hazel grouse breeding

Propagated by daughter bulbs, bulb scales and seeds.

Onion babies

At the base of the mother bulb of some species of hazel grouse, small baby bulbs are formed, which are called “caviar” or “rice”. These species include needle-petaled, golden, and Caucasian hazel grouse. These bulbs are so small that they lack the strength to get out from the depths to the surface. Therefore, when digging bulbs in the garden, the baby needs to be collected and grown separately in containers or seed boxes. The containers can be buried in the garden. Two or three feedings will not be superfluous: starting from the moment the snow melts and until the leaves of young hazel grouse remain green.

Scales like lilies

The bulbs of the hazel grouse of the Liliorhyza section, for example the Kamchatka and Maksimovich fritillaries, are similar to the bulbs of lilies. If they are disturbed during digging, the scales are easily separated; they can be used for propagation by simply planting them in the ground. But they do not take root as easily as lily scales.

Sowing hazel grouse

To get your seeds, it is better to have several flowering plants for cross-pollination.

The name Fritillaria or Fritillaria - Fritillaria, comes from the Latin fritillus - a vessel (glass) for throwing dice, which was in the shape of a corolla, belongs to the lily family. The ground stem of imperial hazel grouse is dotted, in large numbers, with narrow oblong-lanceolate leaves, which are located somewhat scatteredly. The root of a flower is a small bulb that is placed close to the surface of the soil. The flowers of the plant are large and drooping. They bloom one at a time, or several at once, at the top of the stem. The imperial hazel grouse blooms for no more than 20 days: 9-14 days for the flower itself, 13-17 for the inflorescence, mainly in May.

Grouse or Fritillaria - Fritillaria - care, planting and cultivation

The fruit of the hazel grouse is a three-lobed capsule with six sides, which contains a large number of flat seeds. Hazel grouse grow in areas with a temperate climate. They are found in Russia, Ukraine, more often in the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Hazel grouse bloom in natural conditions in meadows, among bushes, and also on mountain slopes. Imperial hazel grouse is one of the spectacular plants that can decorate your flower garden. Easy care, minimum effort - and this flower will delight you, your loved ones and your guests.

Genus: perennial herbaceous plants.

Type: Bulbous and corm garden plants.

Family: Liliaceae.

Stem: erect.

Flower: 2-4-6, collected in an inflorescence.

Fruit: aggregate drupe.

Homeland: slopes of the Alpine mountains.

Location: sunny, at a slight elevation.

Varieties: 150 wild.

general information

Hazel grouse have been known in culture for more than 400 years. This flower received its Russian name due to the variegated (“pockmarked”) color of the petals.

The homeland of the hazel grouse is Iran, Afghanistan, the Eastern Himalayas, Turkey and Iran, where summers are warm and dry. Over time, hazel grouse “moved” a little further north, but in our climatic conditions these plants need additional care for the bulbs of faded plants.

An important feature that can frighten a novice hazel grouse breeder is the pungent smell of the plant’s bulbs, similar to garlic, but it will reliably repel mice and other rodents.

Several varieties of hazel grouse are known in gardening.

a very beautiful flower - fritillaria resembles a spectacular palm tree with a bright inflorescence.

• The stem is single, straight and rigid, ¾ meters high, sometimes reaching up to 1.5 meters.
• The leaves are wide, lanceolate, arranged whorled along the stem; there is also a bunch of leaves at the top of the stem, which forms a kind of “crown”. That is why the flower received the name “imperial”.
• The flowers are bright, bell-shaped, collected in inflorescences of 2-4-6 each.

The perianth is simple, bright - red, yellow, purple; in natural conditions the inflorescence is brown-orange.

Imperial hazel grouse - care, planting and cultivation

The imperial hazel grouse flower is in the photo above.

• Checkered hazel grouse -

got its name due to the unusual original color of the petals of its flowers (the petals are two-color brown-crimson, the spots are arranged in a checkerboard pattern) - see in the photo.

• Mikhailovsky's hazel grouse (F. michailowskyi) -

tulip-shaped flowers, burgundy with a yellow border. Short - height about 15 cm.

• Kamchatka hazel grouse (F. camtschatcensis) -

plant up to 60 cm high, with small flowers similar to bronze bells.

• Yellow hazel grouse -

a plant only 30 cm high, which has yellow flowers, you can see this variety in the photo.

Immediately after the snow melts, fritillaria begins to grow very actively, reaching its maximum height in just two weeks. The imperial hazel grouse blooms in April - May; the flowering period is short, about 2 weeks.

If the task of breeding hazel grouse is not your goal, then you can remove the rudiment of the seed pod at the very beginning of formation - this will somewhat extend the flowering period of your plant.

After this, the ground part gradually dies off and the flower goes into a dormant state, beginning to prepare for the reproduction of offspring next year.

The bulb of the imperial hazel grouse is large and very unusual. It consists of 2-3 layers (fleshy scales) that are not fused together. There is a hole inside it that was formed after last year's stem died. It is in this hole that the buds appear, from which a new bulb will grow.

Planting and propagation

Grouse are typical ephemeroids; their ground part dies off after flowering, and it is advisable to dig up the bulbs every 2-3 years.

Imperial hazel grouse bulb - care, planting and cultivation

• This should be done after the plant’s leaves have already withered.
• After harvesting, the bulbs need care - they are slightly dried and stored in a dry place, in sand or paper, at a temperature not exceeding +30 C.

The photo shows the imperial hazel grouse bulb, which has begun to produce roots.

If the bulb is rotten, then it can be “reanimated” by cutting off the rotten part to “living” tissue, and then drying the cut area with crushed ash, wiping with alcohol or brilliant green.

When planting, you should handle the bulbs very carefully so as not to accidentally damage the delicate soft scales.

• The imperial hazel grouse feels good in a sunny place protected from the wind (light partial shade is also acceptable).
• It is better to plant bulbs on a hill (natural or artificial) to avoid stagnation of water.

Since the plant is quite tall and large, it needs a reliable “foundation”, so it is better to plant the bulb at a depth of 20-30 cm. It is important not to overdo it, because if it is deepened too much, it will be difficult for young shoots to grow to the surface. Planting depth is calculated by multiplying the diameter of the bulb by 2 or 3.

• Before planting, the ground is dug up and fertilized with organic matter - peat or humus.
• When planting at the bottom of the hole, it is better to pour coarse river sand, and place the bulb itself on its side, lightly sprinkling it with sand and between the scales to avoid rotting.
• You need to plant hazel grouse in August-September, but not later, otherwise the bulb will not have time to take root and may even die.

Reproduction of imperial hazel grouse can be carried out both by seeds and vegetatively.

Propagation by seeds. Flowering ends with the formation of a seed capsule at the top of the stem, which is broken off immediately after it dries.

• Seeds are sown immediately in loose soil richly fertilized with organic matter to a depth of 6-8 cm.
• After sowing, the bed is mulched.

It should be noted that seedlings are even more frost-resistant than adult plants.

• Biennial plants should be dug up immediately after the growing season ends.
• The bulbs will still be small and some of them may die.
• It is recommended to transplant them to a new location, at a distance of approximately 25 cm, to ensure their full growth.
• Flowering of such hazel grouse grown from seeds is possible in 4-7 years.

Vegetation. Naturally, bulbs rarely form babies. More often, gardeners resort to artificial separation of scales.

Royal hazel grouse. Young shoots - planting and growing

• In this case, the sections should be processed (in the same way as was said about processing when the bulb rots).
• Such bulbs are planted earlier than whole ones.
• They need growing and can bloom in 2 years.

Care and illness

Imperial hazel grouse is considered a rather unpretentious plant. But still, if you want to see a real beauty in your garden, it’s worth making a little effort. Although it is easy to care for. Fritillaria will respond effectively to root feeding (peat or humus), but feeding the above-ground part can cause burns to the plant. Water the imperial hazel grouse in the same way as all bulbous plants - 1-2 times a month, making sure that the soil is not dry.

It is not advisable to loosen the soil, as it can damage the roots of the plant; instead, it is better to mulch the plantings.

In winter, bulbs will also not cause much trouble for the gardener, especially if the winter is snowy. Otherwise, it will be better to cover them with fallen tree leaves, straw or spruce branches. Such plants are resistant to spring frosts and can withstand down to -5 C.

Even if they are slightly frozen at night and look wilted the next morning, there is no need to panic and take any additional care measures - under the influence of heat and sunlight, the sprouts are able to “come to life” without any harm to themselves and then develop and bloom normally.

Fritillaria is quite resistant to disease. The cause of the disease may be freezing of the bulb in a particularly cold winter, or excess fertilizer. Snails can cause a lot of damage. Another pest of the imperial hazel grouse is the linear leaf beetle. Imperial hazel grouse is not yet very common in our flower beds. But in vain. After all, it requires minimal care, but you will get great pleasure from its flowers! Decorate your flower garden with it and give yourself a piece of alpine spring.

Watch the video on how to plant imperial hazel grouse bulbs.

Fritillaria flower – chessboard

Popularly, the fritillaria flower has the rustic name “hazel grouse,” and its official name fritillaria comes from the Latin word “fritilis,” which translates as “chessboard.” And all because some fritillaria have spots on the petals in a checkerboard pattern.

Since 1746, 12 varieties and more than 100 varieties of this plant have been bred in Europe. But, despite the many differences between them, they all have yellow-red flowers, although white varieties have appeared.

If in nature common hazel grouse are simple, with one row of flowers, now breeders have achieved that many varieties are represented by specimens with a double or even triple row of flowers in one inflorescence.

Most often in garden plots you can find Eduard's fritillaria, chess fritillaria, Caucasian, Kamchatka, Russian, yellow, pale-flowered, but perhaps the most popular is imperial hazel grouse.

When fritilaria bloom in a flowerbed, it may seem to an inexperienced observer that the Lilies have bloomed in a strange way in such an early spring, because indeed, the hazel grouse plant is very similar in shape to a lily or a bell. And it belongs to the Liliaceae family.

Fritillary flowers are perennial bulbous plants. They have a leafy stem ranging from 10 cm to 1 m in height. Bell-shaped flowers hang from the axils of the leaves, which are collected in umbellate or racemose inflorescences.

Fritillaria leaf shape

Hazel grouse are highly decorative early flowering spring plants that grow in both sun and partial shade.

An interesting botanical feature of hazel grouse is the additional function of the leaves of the plant: due to their unique structure, they collect water that falls on their surface and direct it through the stomata to the roots. The reason for this functional feature lies in the fact that fritillaria grow in nature in very arid regions and thus have learned to absorb water not only from the soil, but also from the atmosphere.

Main features of fritillaria (hazel grouse)

About fritillary:

• It reproduces mainly by bulbs, but propagation by seeds is also possible;
• likes soils that are nutritious, but loose and well-drained (permeable to water);
• Hazel grouse prefer a well-lit landing site;
• needs a transplant every 2-3 years;
• Fritillaria should be planted in early September;
• The flowers have an unpleasant odor, so they are not used for forcing for cutting.