Linda, you mentioned Allium obliquum. How far out of the ground is it up there in zone 3? Here in zone 7 Maryland it’s now about seven inches out of the ground. At 8:30 P.M. tonight the air temperature was still in the mid 60s F. The three Magnolia stellata in the garden are just about in full bloom and really pumping out the fragrance. When I poked my head out the door, it sounded as if a zillion peepers were at it. It’s been trying to rain all day, and so the ground is wet and the air is moist. It’s a great night for walking in the rain. The weather played a trick on the crocus today. Most crocus open in response to temperature (warmth opens them) rather than light conditions. Earlier today, it was heavily overcast and raining. But the air temperature was in the upper 60s F. The crocus were wide open in the rain – and all of their ripe pollen was presumably washed away. It was the same with some of the kaufmanniana hybrid tulips. One of my favorite color combinations in crocus is the amethyst and silver combination seen in some of the tommies. The tommies themselves took a beating in the rain today, but their larger congeners the cultivars ‘Yalta’ and ‘Vanguard’ are now just starting. These provide the same color combination in much larger flowers. Fresh, newly opening buds of either the silver and amethyst tommies or of these bigger cultivars are well worth watching during the morning as they open. The silver outer tepals are a perfect foil for the intense amethyst of the inner tepals; when they are partially open, fresh blooms provide surprisingly intense color. It all passes so fast! Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/