I was in the garden centre on Friday when I spied this beautiful wine coloured Snake's Head Fritillary & HAD to buy it as it reminded me of Our Family Farm in deepest Suffolk where they grew wild in some fields Snake's head fritillaries always excite attention wherever they are seen. None of the other lovely members of the fritillaria genus can match this native wildflower for the bizarre and unmistakable colouring of its bell-shaped flowers. They are various shades of purple, always with a pronounced checked pattern all over, and even the luminous white form has a faint check pattern like a watermark. Plants are extremely hardy and trouble-free in free-draining soil, and love the light shade of woodland conditions - planted in drifts under shrubs or naturalised in grass. The Royal Horticultural Society has given it its Award of Garden Merit Susan