Much of February and March the weather had been cool and overcast but last week the air temperature rose and the sun felt strong. Several species opened their first bloom (of this year) and one ripened seed. Orthrosanthus multiflorus has bloomed the first time ever for me, having only grown leaves for about a decade. To me it resembles an Aristea. Not their first ever, but just now coming into bloom are the Geissorhiza aspera, Moraea polyanthos, and Ixia monadelpha. And Sunday I collected the first harvest of seed of the year from Gladiolus caeruleus and Gladiolus gracilis. This may be peak bloom for several Moraea species including M. villosa, MM's varieties "A" and "B", M. gigandra, M. tripetala and M. aristata. The M. polystachya finished awhile ago. The Dichelostemma capitatum keep on pushing up new buds to follow the long, looping thick stalks with some blooms now open over a month. The bulb beds are forests of tall purple pom poms waving in the breeze. I am curious if others have noticed D. capitatum to drape its long leaves over the sunny side of a raised box. This morning I looked carefully and I would estimate less than 1% of the leaves drape over on the north side of the box while the south side is covered heavily. The Scilla peruviana beds are past peak. Those had a bumper bloom this year. The Velthemia bracteata are all open. The Lachenalia are mostly done. The Tropaeolum hookerianum is still blooming some and seed pods are forming. The Ixia rapunculoides seed pods look promising. And it is going to be a good year for the tall Dierama. Rain makes such a difference. Ordinary commercial garden hybrids are helping color the garden. The Mascara armenicum are mostly finished but the 'Dutch' Iris just began last week. What I call 'Bluebells', Scilla hispanica hybrids, are at peak purpleness. Scarlet Ixia are opening not just where I have planted them, but also scattered around the garden. The first of the white 4 foot tall Watsonia opened, with many stalks in bud. The beds of Ipheion are just past peak now with more seed pods than blue stars. The 'Jessie' bloomed later than the older varieties and I notice there has been some mixing. In December 2017, into January 2018, a thick blanket of ash covered the garden. I am curious how this is affecting some species. An Aristea capitata produces a big crop of seeds each summer; but over the decade I have grown it I have only observed 3 seedlings. This year I see so many seedlings crowded so thickly it is like a tiny lawn of Aristea sprouts. I suspect the ash caused this. Also this may have caused the Codonorhiza corymbosa to bloom. It has not opened yet, but has buds I am watching closely. Well that's the excitement in my garden. Gastil, Santa Barbara, California PS Although I checked spelling of the species names, spell-check keeps messing them up. Apparently spell-check does not refer to ICBN. _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…