Whoops, should have mentioned this is a full-sun location (this photo taken early early morning so as not to get glare) with good drainage -- a bed that's been worked for six years. They weren't leaning towards the sun, nothing shades them at all. The daylilies you see weren't up more than 4" or so when the frits started their leaning, snake-along-the-ground routine.

Mine grow in a moist shaded garden bed. Maybe you shound have them in full sun. The folage looks dryed up. The bulbs should still be O.K. though.
Boop

Thank you, Boop. I dug them up an hour ago, and they weren't upside down, just tilted a little to one side, as recommended. The bulbs looked really good, so I am still completely befuzzled as to what happened.

I thought F. persica WANTED direct sun?? Anyone else want to weigh in on this? In addition to their other weirdnesses (slinking along sideways, dying young), they were definitely stunted, even if you add in the amount of stem that went sideways.

Potted up now and getting moved to a mainly-shady location to wait out the summer. All advice appreciated!

I planted some last year and while the stems look fine, I don't have a bloom yet.

Oh, Motria, oh no!!! LOL!!! Well, too late now, they're up and on their way to the hospital corner of the yard. Darn.

Good luck, Chateau, hope this works out for you. Apparently I have shot myself in the foot on this one!

They might be floppy in a good garden soil.
In their nativity they grow as a weeds in a poor gravely soil.

It is also my understanding that they require rather extreme heat in the summer following dormancy to set blooms for the following year....I unpot mine and put them in a 37C warm room in dry potting mix for the summer to induce flower bud formation.....One of the worlds best, Janis Ruksans, digs them and puts them in a hot GH for the summer to achieve this. I have no idea if this is of any help, but it is an approach taken by a few of us :o) Dan

If Dan's right, you killed those blooms with kindness. Next year heat the daylights outta their furry little roots and we'll see if Dan's right. I suspect he is.

I love Frits, but they're not in my field of expertise, so I'm hoping you'll let us know next year what happens

Lainey

Thank you all. As this is Virginia, they are guaranteed to have a very VERY hot dormancy this summer. I'll report back next year, and again, thanks for all the helpful commentary. :)

lisasmall,

I was wondering what happened with your Fritillaria persica the following year? Did it bloom? I think we live nearish to each other (I'm in Falls Church) and I've wanted to plant these for a couple of years now. ( I've missed them consistently at all the local nurseries and on line before they're sold out.) But I'm renovating a sunny garden after dealing with consistent flooding issues due to the issue that Fairfax County didn't put in enough storm drains in our neighborhood and the area used to flood when we had heavy rain storms. We've fixed the drainage issue and I'd like to plant Fritillaria persica. Your thoughts on your experience with them would be very appreciated.