Jim: There is nothing quite like seeing a plant that you have grown for years in the wild. The plants that we offer are all clonal, but of unknown origin. The plant that we have now from Taiwan is a new clone to cultivation. There is an interesting article that I recently read detailing the extremely narrow genetics range of titanotrichium over its entire range as shown by DNA...don't remember the author, but you might find in on-line. Tony Avent Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdelights.com/ phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jim McKenney Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 10:31 AM To: 'Pacific Bulb Society' Subject: Re: [pbs] Titanotrichum; was RE: perennial bulbs Tony wrote (of Titanotrichum oldhamii) “Our plant from that expedition is flowering in the garden now.” And the plant I received from Plant Delights a few weeks ago is just about to bloom here. For those of you who don’t know it, Titanotrichum looks a lot like a yellow-flowered Digitalis. One of the pleasures of my old age is to discover that some plants once fabulously rare are now readily available. I’ve known about Titanotrichum for decades, ever since I read about it in the book Miracle Houseplants published in 1976. This book is about gesneriads. When that book was written very little was known about Titanotrichum; for instance, the authors had never seen it. They say it can reach 5’ in height. That’s what caught my attention. I don’t move in gesneriad circles, so as more information about the plant gradually accumulated, I was not aware of it. When I took a look at the Plant Delights website earlier this year, I got a real rush to see that not only is it available but no more expensive than dozens of other fine plants. Tony, in the passage quoted above you wrote “our plant”: is it a single plant, a clone? I’ve very excited about this one! Thanks too for that link, Tony. Wow! After a trip like that, don’t you feel totally spoiled for life? Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/