Plant of the week

To begin what will hopefully be an every Wednesday occurrence (procrastination dependent); I'm going to write about my favourite flower; 

Snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)

My 1963 Readers Digest Complete Library of the Garden Volume 2 says:

Fritilliaria meleagris, curious, hanging flowers patterned in purple and white squares like a chess board. Plain white and reddish-purple forms frequently appear in naturalized colonies

They are my favourite plant because:

• They flower in April and May so can be found on my birthday
• They are a native wildflower and make me proud to be British  
• There is some scepticism on their native-ness due to there being a century between records of them being in gardens and in the wild - a plant with a dramatic back story! 
• They like being in the light shade of a woodland, which I would also always choose over direct sunlight 
• They're also known as the guinea-hen flower, which is an adorable name
• I like playing chess

 
Sadly they can't be found in florists and so I'll never be truly satisfied when presented with a bunch of flowers...