Dear all, Ah one of my favorites. I am not a big 'leaf' person, but for the Veltheimias I make an exception - they are indeed beautiful plants did they never bloom - as Mary Sue has said. Re: V. capensis: There are perhaps beautiful capensis plants. Perhaps it is in the eye..... To me they look like a weak and spindly V.b. They do, it's true, have glaucous green leaves but they are narrow and not particularly attractive. Same for the flowers - inferior to but very similar to V.b. (My opinion only) The V.bs I grew and bloomed from seed in so short a time were indoors under lights and were fed a dilute fertilizer with each watering. I don't remember the foliage being particularly inferior indoors but once you put them outside to harden off, it won't take any time at all for their leaves to broaden, thicken, and look a nice shiny green. I am trying hard to get the number of pots down by planting out bulbs into the ground a la Gary Buckley. Several of the V.bs are now occupying a raised bed originally built for Hipps and so far they are responding fine. Cathy Craig President PBS Maritime zone 9b