A wet fall and atypically warm and dry January have caused unusual behavior here in the SF bay area as well, although my sample sizes are very small. My sole Fritillaria recurva just sent out a leaf a maybe a week ago. Meanwhile they are blooming (beautifully!) a mere 40 miles away: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericinsf/5440521094/ F. eastwoodiae also just leafed out here, but there is no sign yet of Erythronium 'White Beauty' (I have so few, it's possible I lost them all). The oddest thing is a single Asiatic lily, cv. unknown, of a group of 3 I received as a (potted, flowering) gift, that started leafing out in Nov. and budded in Dec. -- well before our unseasonably warm weather: http://www.flickr.com/photos/badthings/5414048917/ It still hasn't flowered. On another topic, I wanted to note a somewhat confusing article in the LA Times about a call for enhanced regulation of the trade in rare plants. Excuse me if this was discussed here before, but I just noticed it: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/… The equally confusing Nature article referred to is here (for subscribers): http://nature.com/nature/journal/… The argument about Brighamia insignis is nonsensical -- if ex-situ conservation is the only chance of a species's survival, shouldn't that be encouraged? I'll avoid further pontification, but I did think it interesting that Nature saw fit to publish this. Max Withers Oakland CA ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:27:18 -0800 > From: "Robin Hansen" <hansennursery@coosnet.com> > To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> > Subject: Re: [pbs] Changing seasons > Message-ID: <5EADC8B9DBB04445AD22EB6457DB6D0E@homed4aec9b2d8> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Some other signs of spring --- > Trillium kuryabayashii in full bloom, Erythronium 'Pagoda' in bud, blooming > always well before E. tuolumnense, all the Ipheions of course - actually > they're later than usual. These are in an unheated, shaded poly house. > > Scoliopus (hallii or bigelovii) is finished and the other is beginning to > bloom. Can anyone give me a simple way to tell them apart? The one just > finished has well-spotted leaves, the other doesn't seem to as much, but > whenever I've been around them, clouds of flies depart. Now if they would > just set seed! > > Cyclamen pseudibericum is beginning to bloom and repandum,et al. I think > I'll just call them "repandum complex" for now. Do I hear cries of "Oh, > horrors -can't she figure it out!"? > > Well, no, my undisciplined mind seems to veer off into other things... > > It has been alternately freezing and raining at night, but the English > violets in my mother's lawn are blooming. Her daffodils are in bud. Mine > aren't there yet. > > Even one or two pots of little Scilla bifolia are beginning to flower, and > the Synthyris from up on the Umpqua River in south central Oregon is in full > bloom. > > I can't repot fast enough now to be ready for spring plant sales and > there's still lots of seed to sow. > > We have turned the corner into the approach to spring - and oh, how welcome > it is! > > Robin Hansen > Hansen Nursery > Southwestern Oregon, USA > >