On 2 Feb 04 at 19:23, Mark Smyth wrote: > A major pest to snowdrops is the Narcissus fly > http://www.snowdropinfo.com/narcissus-fly.html Curiously, snowdrops do quite well here, but many narcissus (and other amaryllids) are destroyed in one season by the narcissus fly. My immediate area used to host commercial daffodil growing operations (there are still such operations outside of town), and abounds with feral clumps of old, long-forgotten cultivars which serve as so many typhoid Marys. I have observed that the beautiful triandrus hybrid narcissus (Liberty Bells, Thalia, and many others) are particularly prone to the fly. You don't even get "grass" the second year! Lycoris, except L. sprengeri, also disappear with astonishing rapidity. Yet crinums, amaryllis belladonna, lycoris sprengeri, and nerine bowdenii all do well. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island