Snake's head fritillary

Fritillaria meleagris

A bulb. A short stem (the basal plate) wrapped in fleshy scales that hold the food store, with the next flower folded inside.

Whole

Cut open

Store	Bulb. Cut it in half: you see layers like an onion.
Depth	10 cm to the base of the bulb
Spacing	10 cm apart
When	Plant in autumn. Plant: from your first autumn frost to 6 weeks after. Work out your dates.
Pets	Not on the ASPCA list: treat as unsafe to chew

About Snake's head fritillary

Chequered bells of damp meadows. The bulb is a small, fragile pair of scales that dries out quickly.

Depth and spacing

Typical range: 10 cm deep and 10 cm apart. A general rule is to plant at two to three times the height of the bulb; check the label for your variety. The drawing is to scale for 10 cm deep and 10 cm apart (the size of the organ is illustrative); try your own measurements.

When to plant

Plant in autumn. Plant: from your first autumn frost to 6 weeks after. These are rules of thumb for the northern hemisphere. Enter your frost dates for real dates.

Dividing and propagating

Lift and divide after flowering when the stems have died back, or let it seed into damp grass.

Lifting and storing

Never let the bulb dry. Plant as soon as you buy it, or keep in barely damp sand or compost until planting.

Not on the ASPCA list

The ASPCA plant list has no entry we could match to this plant, so we cannot say it is safe. Keep pets from chewing it and digging up the bulb, and ask your vet if in doubt. Search the ASPCA list.