Kathleen (who lives on the coast, west of where I am) wrote: >Despite a cool wet spring and early summer (cooler and wetter than >normal, that is), typical late summer drought finally arrived, with >sunny days alternating with fog. >Scilla autumnalis, from PBS seed, is flowering for the first time, >very nice. The current name seems to be Prospera autumnalis. It's actually Prospero autumnalis. I think Speta, when revising the genus Scilla, used more than one name from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" for the new genera. (I seem to remember that there is a horrible-looking succulent with the genus name Caliban?) I noticed the first flower on Prospero autumnalis here yesterday. It ripens its seed very fast and copiously and could become a pest were it not so very small. I have two collections, one by myself, and they are slightly different colors -- one more blue than the other. There are a couple of other species in Prospero, which are larger and flower a little later. Also just appearing, Colchicum kotschyi, a small white-flowered species. I think colchicums flower in response to temperature change, not moisture. Usually the first one for me has been C. alpinum, but conditions are different at my new home, with warmer nights. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA