Whenever a purportedly tender plant survives the winter outside, it's a bit like finding money blowing down the street. While weeding the garden this morning I had a nice surprise: three borderline hardy plants have reappeared and are growing well. One, Begonia sutherlandii, is known to be reliable in some parts of the greater Washington, D.C. area. In my garden there have been several failures, but I think I've finally found a good place for it. It's now in its third year there. Another is the gesneriad Sinningia leucotricha, This I've had for decades; it survived here as a houseplant because it is winter dormant, and it was that characteristic which prompted me to try it outside. The emerging sprout at this point looks like a huge, silvery, hairy four leaf clover. I have this planted in the rain shadow of the roof overhang, and the foliage remains in good condition well into the summer. Also emerging in strength is a plant received as Scilla natalensis. This has not bloomed yet, and I'm hoping it really does turn out to be Merwilla plumbea - to use the new name. Looking at the pictures on the wiki, I decided that the flowering scapes must be about three feet high. Does that sound right? I ate breakfast and read the paper out on the deck this morning: the roses on the pergola are coming into bloom and now and then I was enveloped in a cloud of rose fragrance. I thought for a moment about the poor souls struggling to get to some holiday destination in a car engulfed in congested traffic. I'm staying put and have no regrets whatsoever. Please pass me another slice of the lemon cake and say, didn't I just hear a veery? Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where the first water lily buds are above water. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/