How to Grow Crown Imperial Flowers

The crown imperial flower (Fritillaria imperialis) is a spring-blooming beauty. Each plant forms a single stalk that blooms a cluster of tubular flowers of striking colors including red, yellow and orange. Above the blooms arise green, erect bracts, reminiscent of a crown. Crown imperial is an excellent addition to home gardens in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 to 9. It grows from a spiral-shaped bulb; plant bulbs in the fall about four to six weeks before the ground freezes.

Tiller or shovel
Compost or perlite
Coarse sand
Trowel
Mulch

Instructions

- 1
  Cultivate the soil in an area of the landscape that receives a minimum of six hours of sunlight per day. Till or turn the soil over 6 to 8 inches deep, then mix in 2 or 3 inches of compost, perlite or coarse sand. This helps promote good drainage, which is a must for crown imperial flowers.
- 2
  Dig holes that are 6 inches deep and spaced 6 to 12 inches apart.
- 3
  Sprinkle coarse sand in the grooves and holes of the bulbs. If water gets trapped in the bulbs, they will rot.
- 4
  Fill the hole with 1 inch of coarse sand, then set one bulb in each hole on its side. Cover the bulbs with 1 inch of sand.
- 5
  Backfill the soil to fill in the rest of the hole, tamping it lightly; do not pack the soil firmly. Water the area with 1 inch of water.
- 6
  Cover the area with 2 inches of mulch after the first freeze the first winter, especially in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 and 6.
- 7
  Remove mulch in the spring and water with 1/2 to 1 inch of water each week (when rain is scarce) from spring until summer. Prune faded flower stalks, but leave the foliage intact until fall or early winter. Prune them to the ground after they wither.

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