A mysterious Fritillaria

A mysterious Fritillaria pontica, as you can see, its petals are clearly checkered...

I think some of my Fritillarias are behaving quite strangely, and I'm not trying to come with a late April Fools Day joke... I got these bulbs a year and a half ago from Marian, who always had the most amazing and rare plants in her garden. I had labeled them as Fritillaria pontica, the Balkan fritillary, and I swear they looked like the ones below last year, when they flowered for the first time in my garden. But yesterday, when I photographed them, I noticed that they are clearly checkered, which Balkan fritillarias are not supposed to be. Now I've been wondering if I've just lost my control and forgotten what I've planted. Or have they really changed? Maybe they were inspired by the more common Fritillaria meleagris nearby and wanted checkered skirts this spring, too? This is a bit of a mystery, I must follow closely as they keep opening their buds...

Fritillaria ponticas, when they still were at home in Marian's garden.

And here they are in my garden; I think they look so demure with their nodding bells and elegantly unfurling leaves... Must plant early perennials around them, they look so lonely peeking up from the naked soil.