You should not have any problem. They self sow here in the UK on bare soil, and you get large colonies.
Brian

Don't know anything about starting them from seeds, but I can tell you that my small patch has increased readily over the past 3/4 seasons.

Cleaning up the area this fall, I found my original markers that I use to indicate where not to dig because of bulbs - the fritillaria meleagris were 2 ft out past the markers on all sides! If I had room for another patch somewhere else, I think seeds would be worth a try.

Germination is difficult and slow. Sow and leave outside if you get freeze thaw cycles in winter. Or cycle the temperature three months at 4C, three months at 20C, repeat until the germinate. Keep the seedlings cool so that they grow, heat will send them dormant and will kill very small seedlings.

I found them easy from seed sown when it was shed. Just put into a pot and into a frame (largely to keep off the slugs here). Try and keep them growing as long as possible, it's fine if you keep them green by keeping them moist when the adult plants have already died down. Shrubs n bulbs I don't know why you had a problem with them, possibly because it was old seed? The Fritillaria group of the UK Alpine garden Society do their seed distribution in October. There seems to be a growing concensus that sowing later is not so good and you are better off storing the seeds in a fridge until the next season.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to give it a try next season

I don't find them difficult by sowing and leaving outdoors, but if they are treated "nice" and sown at a nice constant warm temperature then they don't germinate. Do your's?

Hi, I think the meleagris were probably left in a pot in a frame so they wouldn't be warm. However F.eharti, recurva, purdyi, falcata, davisii, tubiformis all germinated ok in the frost free alpine house. After a lapse of several years I have about 15 species sown this September/October and we'll see what happens!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mark's Inspiring Plants

I picked ripe seed pods from the flower heads in May/June (UK early summer) in a paper bag. When fully mature, they burst and I had dozens of seeds from each. I then mixed some sand, vermiculite and a little compost (about equal parts, but roughly) and added the seeds which I then sprinkled in a sheltered location (under a summer plant that would die back the following autumn). They have since multiplied like billio. Takes a year or two for new seedlings to flower. Natural propagation if you leave the seed pods to burst by themselves (and they explode to disburse the seed - I've seen them).