Fritillaria

A tall spring bulb from the rocky slopes of western Asia, native from Türkiye to the western Himalaya. Each large bulb sends up one stout, straight stem 3 to 4 feet tall, ringed below with glossy, wavy-edged leaves and topped by a crown of drooping orange, red or yellow bells under a tuft of leafy bracts. The whole plant has a strong smell, described as skunky, foxy or garlicky. It wants sun and well-drained soil, and the leaves die back by early summer as the bulb goes dormant. The bulbs are poisonous raw.

An exquisite, delicate spring bulb grown for its solitary, nodding, bell-shaped flowers, which are uniquely chequered in a chessboard pattern of purple and dusky pink (or, on white forms, a faint ghost of the same lattice) and held on slender stems over fine grey-green leaves. The pendent, snake's-head bells give it both its common name and its quiet, wild charm. Native across much of Europe (POWO, Kew), it is a treasured but much-declined wildflower of old damp meadows, and its decline is a real conservation concern, which makes it a genuinely good plant for naturalizing in moist grass to help restore a lost habitat. Two things are load-bearing: unlike most spring bulbs it wants soil that stays moist, even damp, and does not dry out, so it fails in hot, dry spots; and it is toxic if eaten, since the bulb and all parts contain alkaloids. It is also a valuable early nectar source for the first bumblebees of the year. Hardy across USDA zones 3a-8b, it carries the RHS Award of Garden Merit and is rated fully hardy (H5).