Jamie Vande Cologne Germany Zone 8 We have had an unusually cold Winter in Germany. Lots of snow and almost 3 months at or below the freezing point. Wouldn't have been bad, had we, also, received some sunlight! Yes, all the nasty critters have had a hard time and I expect that we will have very little in the way of garden pests in the Summer. I spent a few hours removing wilted and withered foliage from the Hems, Paeonies, Astilbes, etc., while noting the small Winter Aconites (Eranthus) popping up all over the place. An interesting story lies behind these cheery yellow cups standing but a few centimetres above the ground. I used to teach a class in ceramics at the adult education centre. One of my students, a rather righteous, old-fashioned type with a certain self-assured charm, had what would be akin to a garden plot. This is a club of gardeners that have no home garden and rent a piece of a large gardening estate and try to get along with each other. Well, the stories of the injustices were rampant, but my student always enjoyed explaining how she tried to rise above this and get on with gardening, while carfully modeling one more ceramic ornament for her private paradise. One afternoon she appeared at class with a large plastic sack full of green and brown for my garden. Tons of Eranthus that has seeded throughout her plot. Well, I was delighted, as they are literally the only item that blooms through the late snows and I had none! I planted them about in my lawn and still had more to plant. I planted a few more in my semi-shade area, but there were still more to go. A few came into the rockerie and then the sun was setting, therefore the rest were simply thrown under various shubs and vines, left to their lot. Well, they all grew! Especially those just thrown under shrubs! The sad part is that this student recently succumed to cancer. We all new of her plight and I suppose we were her support group at the ceramics workshop. We all got involved in helping her set her wigs after the chemo and generally playing sounding board. I think it was an interesting experience for us all. Needless to say, as I enjoyed the yellow Eranthus during my weeding I thought of her. See, we do live on in the hearts of others! I have an unidentified snowdrop in the garden. Three times as large as G. nivalis, blooms about two weeks ahead, but is otherwise identical. Does anyone know much agout Galanthus? Is there a typical cultivar that meets this vague description? Could it be a hybrid that seeded about? I do not grow any other species, but neighbours have what appears to be G. elwesii. Ciao, Jamie V. Cologne