NOVEMBER. 



41 



FRITILLARY. 



" if at noon the Fritillary droops, 



With drops nectareous hang her drooping cups." 



The three sorts of Fritillaries are, the common, 

 the Persian, and the Crown Imperial. They are val- 

 uable as early blowers ; the latter is ornamental and 

 showy in roomy borders. They are, however, some- 

 times displayed to great advantage, by being planted 

 in alternate rows with the Dogs-tooth Violet ; both 

 flower at the same time, the latter furnishing the beds 

 with its broad leaves, which would otherwise have 

 a naked appearance from the bare stems of the Fri- 

 tillaries. The common, or Fritillaria Meleagris, 

 (called Fritillaria, from the markings of its petals 

 like a chess-board) grows from nine to twelve inches 

 high. 



The Persian, cultivated by botanists rather than by 

 florists, is tender. The Crown Imperial, a fine stately 

 and beautiful flower, is hardy, strong, and well 

 adapted to shrubberies, and would be much more in 

 esteem, were it not for the rank odor which it ex- 

 hales, resembling that of a fox : it has several vari- 

 eties, principally single and double red, single and 

 double yellow, and striped-leaved, all very orna- 

 mental. Their propagation is by offsets ; if by seed, 

 great care will be required, as in the raising of the 

 more precious bulbs ; but it is not worth the atten- 

 tion and the time required. In the different kinds 

 above mentioned, it would take from four to six years 

 to bring them to perfection. An old writer on gar- 

 dening observes, that " patience and care are the 

 chief ingredients, as we cannot have a blow from the 

 seed-bed under six years ; but then by continuing to 



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