It's themid season here in Maryland, and this year one in particular stands out as a really neat plant: that's Bloomeria crocea. I mistakenly thought it would be just another take on Triteleia ixioides, but I like it a lot more. The umbel is about six inches in diameter, and the largest of the nearly thirty flowers is a bit over an inch in diameter. To my tastes, it does the yellow flowering onion thing better than any yellow allium I know. It's a keeper! The forms of Brodiaea californica with big flowers on long pedicels are neat, especially the pink ones. The plants sold as Celestial mix are also blooming and these are nice ones, too. Evidently the mix varies from year to year - I take this as a sign that more themids are in the pipeline. Earlier this year someone asked about hardiness of Dichelostemma ida-maia. I did not respond at the time, but the stock I currently grow is hardy here if it goes into the winter after a thorough drying. A few years ago I was surprised to find dozens of these plants in a local amenity planting. The following year a few returned, and after that nothing. They need to be dry during the summer under our conditions. Jim McKenney Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where spring 2014 has been the most floriferous one ever for me.