In the garden, this is Iris Time in Indiana. Tall bearded iris, Siberian iris, and various species iris are all blooming. In a very protected spot outside the south end of one greenhouse, Hymenocallis liriosme is blooming. Of the half-dozen or so different accessions of liriosme that I tried outdoors in the ground in various spots, only this one accession (#1261) has survived. The two separate clones of #1261 are each increasing nicely into clumps. In less protected spots, not even #1261 has survived. Indiana is not good country for Hymenocallis liriosme. Thad Howard sent me two bulbs of #1261 (my number, not Thad's) in 2001. These two clumps have been in the ground through at least three winters. In the potted plants, mainly now moved outdoors from the greenhouses, there is scattered bloom. Sprekelia howardii has one rebloom just finishing now, and my pot of Sprekelia formosissima 'High Priest' has three blooms at once. Cyrtanthus montanus has one bulb in bloom and one other sending up a scape. Haemanthus montanus is blooming. Still in the greenhouse, Hippeastrum striatum from Brazil continues to put up some flowers, and one pot of Caliphruria korsakoffii is blooming. Pictures of these flowers should eventually make their way into my blog. Jim Shields in sunny Westfield, Indiana ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Lat. 40° 02.8' N, Long. 086° 06.6' W