Uli, thanks for the encouraging words with regard to the chances of growing Nerine bowdenii here in eastern North America. I got some of the seed you donated to the BX, and the little seedlings are coming along nicely. How long do you think it will take for them to bloom? Evidently Nerine bowdenii does sometimes survive and bloom here in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Last year a friend sent me a photo of a plant for identification. I think the photo was taken in an abandoned garden. It took me a moment to recognize it because it was growing oddly. But it was Nerine bowdenii, blooming on a very short stem so that the cluster of blooms was down almost at ground level. Something had damaged the tepals, but the pollen color caught my eye, and then I got it. Jim McKenney Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where no Nerine are blooming but other oporanthous bulbs are showing up.