Fritillaria Persica Purple Dynamite

Plant these in October and by April you'll have something most of your neighbors have never laid eyes on. Fritillaria Persica Purple Dynamite pushes up thick blue-green stems lined with twisting, sea-glass leaves, then opens row after row of small bell-shaped flowers in a shiny grape purple that turns almost black as the season runs on. Each spike carries between 20 and 30 nodding bells, all hanging the same direction like little dinner bells waiting for the wind. This one is the souped-up cousin of the older Persian Lily. Fatter bulbs, taller stems, and a glossier, darker flower than the standard form. The shine is what gets people. In a photo it doesn't really come through. In person the petals look like they've been waxed by hand. You'll get stems hitting 32 to 38 inches in decent soil, sometimes a touch more by year three. Bloom starts in mid-spring, usually April in the South and early May further north. The flowers open from the bottom of the spike upward, so a single stem stays in show for two to three weeks. The whole plant goes dormant by midsummer, which leaves room for daylilies, salvia, or a few annuals to fill in the gap.

A few things to know before you plant:
Pick a sunny spot. Fritillaria Persica Purple Dynamite wants six hours of direct sun, more if you can give it. Light shade in the afternoon is fine. Drainage matters more than richness. Wet feet in July will rot them faster than anything else, so if your soil holds water, mix in some grit or coarse sand. A gentle slope works wonders. So does a raised bed. Plant in fall, 6 to 7 inches deep, 8 to 10 inches apart, pointy side up. Some growers tilt the bulb on its side to keep water from collecting in the dished top, that's an old trick worth using. Water once after planting, then leave them alone until you see leaves push through the ground. Skip the deer fence on this one. Every part of the plant carries a faint skunky scent that deer, voles, mice, moles, and rabbits walk right past. You won't notice the smell at nose height. The wildlife does, and they keep their distance. Hardy from zone 4 through zone 8. Folks gardening in zone 9 can grow them too, though warm winters may shorten the show after a few years. 

How they look in the garden:
Purple Dynamite earns its keep in the back half of a sunny border. Plant them behind a band of late tulips, alliums, or columbine and let the dark bells rise out of the lower flowers like exclamation points. They also pair well with chartreuse foliage, think Lady's Mantle, hosta 'Sum and Substance', or a young gold elderberry. The contrast makes the purple read almost black. Cut a single stem and it'll hold up for a week in a tall vase. Most gardeners can't bring themselves to snip any, which is fair. They look better in the ground.

Bulb size and what to expect the first year:
We ship large, plump bulbs, 20/+ and  the size matters with Fritillaria. Small bulbs sit out a year before they flower. The grade we sell will bloom the first spring after planting with one strong stem per bulb. By year two or three, an established clump throws multiple stems and the show settles into the kind of thing you start planning the whole spring garden around.

Quick facts:
Botanical name: Fritillaria persica 'Purple Dynamite'
Common name: Persian Lily, Persian
Fritillary Height: 30 to 36 inches
Spread: 8 to 10 inches
Bloom time: April to May
Flower color: Shiny grape purple, aging to deep plum-black
Light: Full sun
Soil: Well-drained, gritty, neutral to alkaline
Planting depth: 6 to 7 inches
Spacing: 8 to 10 inches
USDA zones: 4 to 8
Deer, rodent, and rabbit resistant
Pollinator friendly (early bees love the bells)

A bit of background:
Fritillaria persica has been grown in European gardens since the late 1500s, when Ottoman gardeners passed bulbs along to Vienna. Purple Dynamite is a modern Dutch selection of that old species, a hand-picked seedling chosen for its taller stem, fuller flower count, and that wet-paint shine on the petals. It's the kind of plant that looks expensive in a garden but takes almost no work once it's in the ground. If you're after something with the wow of an allium and the elegance of a foxglove, but want a flower that nobody else on the block is growing, this is the bulb to order.