Martagon lilies are flowering right now, and doing better than in the past. They are even starting to self-sow a little, so the patch is bigger than when originally planted; and one stray seed germinated right by my front steps and is flowering right now. This is not because I am some super-gardener. Nor is it because the seeds I grew these from were in some way "special". The show is due entirely to the conditions of growth, so let me outline those: 1. Climate: cool Mediterranean with wet winters and cool summers. 2. Extra water? None. 3. Soil: a clay called "floured sand." This clay, unlike the blue marine clay so common here, can be worked when wet because it isn't sticky. 4. Drainage: poor. I get standing water near the martagons during wet periods. 5. Light: almost no direct sun but plenty of sky light. 6. Pests: deer, which in many seasons eat all the buds. The great drawback to martagons is that though they are very beautiful, they smell bad and hence cannot be used as a cut flower. _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…