Erythronium 'Pagoda', Liliaceae

Few spring flowers have such grace and elegance as Erythronium 'Pagoda', right from the time that the buds form to the moment when the sulphur yellow tepals open and curl backwards.

It's an easy plant to grow, thriving in permanently moist soil in the dappled shade of deciduous trees. The only problem is remembering where the bulbs have been planted after the flowers and foliage die back in summer - it's easy to forget and accidentally dig them up. Left undisturbed, it steadily increases forming very attractive carpets of spring foliage and flowers.

The genus Erythronium has a northern temperate distribution, with around twenty two species that are mostly found in deciduous woodlands. There is a very good series of Scottish Rock Garden Club articles by Ed Alverson describing the North American species in their natural habitat and including some very fine photographs, which you can access by clicking here, here, here, here, and here.

Erythronium is often called the trout lily or dog's tooth violet, the latter name referring to the tooth-like shape of the bulbs rather than the flowers. The name trout lily refers to the similarity between the mottling on the leaves and the skin markings of trout.

Fritillaria michailovskyi, Liliaceae

There are over 100 species of Fritillaria and I think this one, F. michailovski, was the first I ever encountered, in the alpine house at the RHS Garden at Wisley, about 50 years ago. There was something about the weird colour combination and art deco lampshade form of the flowers that really appealed to me but it was another 40 years before I got around to growing it for myself.  These days the bulbs are more easily available and considerably cheaper than they were half a century ago. The species comes from the high mountains of North East Turkey and performs best if it's grown in an alpine house, in a  pan of free draining compost topped with grit.

F. michailovskyi is one of the smaller species in the genus and this is the largest, the well-known, 1.5m. tall crown imperial F. imperialis, whose regal appearance is somewhat undermined by its unpleasant foxy smell. This unfortunate aroma may be the source of the belief that the plant repels mice and moles, that presumably think they are in the presence of a sharpd-toothed predator when they smell the plant. There does seem to be some evidence that the plant repels deer, that reputedly avoid it, and some recent biochemical analysis of the plant's nectar has identified the evil-smelling compound responsible as 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol, which I imagine could be the basis for a deer repellent if the effect is as strong as some people claim. Crown imperials grow wild in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Kashmir.

William Robinson, in his celebrated The English Flower Garden, commented that most fritillaries have "dull tinted curiously interesting flowers" and that is particularly true of F.camschatcensis from Japan, Kamchatka and Eastern Siberia. In some forms of this plant the flowers are almost black but their other striking feature is a stench that is said to be truly disgusting. It's a plant for humus-rich soil in light woodland shade. Apparently the bulb is edible and is said to taste like roast chestnuts but I wouldn't be tempted to risk it since several Fritillaria species are known to contain physiologically active substances or are downright poisonous, including ....

... the familiar snake's head fritillary, F. meleagris. Like all fritillaries that I have ever grown this is an extravagant producer of nectar and is very popular with bumblebees when it flowers in my garden in late April. I've been growing it for about 20 years and it now seeds itself around the garden, often in unexpected places, but one of the best ways to grow it is in grass, as William Robinson recommended back in 1883: "It grows freely in grass not mown early", he wrote," and is therefore admirable for the wild garden; its various forms are amongst the most beautiful inhabitants of the hardy bulb garden, and tufts of the chequered or white-flowered variety are amongst the most graceful plants in cottage gardens".

Aloe variegata, Partridge-breasted Aloe

To mark the beginning of the football World Cup in South Africa, here's a familiar South African succulent species - the partridge-breasted aloe, Aloe variegata, that's widely grown as a houseplant here in Britain. I assume the common name comes from the  similarities in pattern between those beautifully variegated leaves and a bird's breast feathers, but the more direct connection between aloes and birds relates to their flowers. Like many red-flowered plants these aloes are often pollinated by birds - usually sugarbirds, which occupy the pollination niche that's filled by hummingbirds in the New World, but without their aerial agility. They are both after the same reward though - nectar, which is secreted inside those tubular flowers. You can find a guide to Aloe species here .

English Florists' Tulip, Tulipa sp.

English florists' tulips have been grown in England since the 17th. century, when they probably arrived here from Holland, and they have been lovingly cultivated by members of the Wakefield and North of England Tulip Society since 1836, who hold an annual show and exhibit their prize blooms in beer bottles. The flowers are notable for their elegant half-cup shape shape and, rather more remarkably, the fact that they are – strictly speaking - diseased. The vibrant colour patterns of the tepals is caused by a virus infection – tulip breaking potyvirus – that’s transmitted by aphids. Pigment production in tepal cells that are infected is drastically altered, causing the colour patterns that have acquired their own distinct nomenclature. Plain coloured, uninfected flowers are known as ‘breeders’ while bulbs that are infected are said to be ‘broken’. Flowers with pigmented tepal edges are said to be ‘feathered’, those with a strong column of colour in the centre of the tepal are ‘flamed’ and spectacular colour patterns like the one above are known as ‘bizarres’, while ‘bibloemens’ are predominantly white with delicate purple or blackish-purple markings.

The patterning produced by the virus infection is unpredictable, but once a bulb has been 'broken' and has been recognised as having a desirable colour pattern it can be propagated vegetatively from bulblets that are produced every year.

Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Semper_Augustus_Tulip_17th_century.jpg

During the height of Tulip Mania in the 17th. century bulbs of virus-infected tulips like like this Semper Augustus changed hands for the equivalent of ten years wages for a skilled craftsman.