Jim McKenney wrote about how a Dutch xiphium Iris hybrid responded to a hot, dry summer in his garden. I think Jim's right about the preferences of these irises, but I also think that the different ones commercially available have different levels of winter hardiness (they are winter-growing and spring-blooming). The one he described, 'Bronze Beauty', is the best performer of the half dozen or so varieties I've tried, here where winters are colder than Xiphium species generally experience in the wild. Mine don't get a completely dry summer (I occasionally water the bed where they grow) but it is very well drained and has a full south exposure. I also grow several wild species in this section in the bulb frame, and was pleased that Iris xiphium itself flowered this spring (after being subjected to a colder than normal winter, too). In general the species are more slender and delicate in appearance than the hybrids, with less substantial flowers. On a side note to Mary Sue's post that began this discussion, Gladiolus tristis is indeed night-fragrant, and I think I wrote in the past that the flowers, when cut and brought into the house, retain this pattern of releasing their fragrance at night, even in a room with little daylight -- a truly mysterious process. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA