Jim Waddick wrote: “Aren't plants amazing sometimes?” I’m happy to say that it has been years since we have seen this, but there have been years when there have been hard freezes in mid April when many tulips, daffodils and the big frits were in full bloom. In my old slide collection I have photos of Fritillaria imperialis in full bloom but frozen hard, rigidly upright. The foliage gets an ominous dark, water-stained look when this happens. Once they thaw out, they seem to go back to normal, but it’s hard to believe that this is good for them. We had a light freeze the other night; Fritillaria raddeana, one of which is in full bloom, had hard foliage in the morning. We also had heavy rains recently – it left the Tecophilaea flowers pock-marked and ugly. Garden tulips of the kaufmanniana group (most of which are hybrids of Tulipa kaufmanniana and T. greigii) are in bloom now. I really like these, especially the ones with bright markings in the throat of the bloom. There is a new tulip cultivar being marketed under the name ‘Ice Stick’. It’s blooming now, too. In terms of its origins, it’s a kaufmanniana tulip (maybe even a form of Tulipa kaufmanniana in the botanical sense although I’m not sure). It has flowers typical of Tulipa kaufmanniana (small so far) on a tall stem. I’m still getting used to it – for now, it’s the giraffe tulip, something new and interesting. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7, where bloodroot, toothwort and spring beauty are blooming in the local woods. 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/