Hi Jim, Thanks for letting me hear about the progress of the seed. My seedling is in its third year, but not yet ready to bloom. From the looks of it, it may be several years before it will be. I don't think it even formed a pseudo-stem last year. It came up late this summer – little over a month ago. For a while I was afraid I had lost it, but it finally poked a leaf up, and is growing well. I hope to get seed from the parent again this year (I never get more than one or two). I’d be happy to send you one if you are interested. The parent plant increases extremely slowly -- I haven't repotted it for years, and it seems happy. It doesn't appear to be crowded. Eventually, I know, I shall have to thin it. When I do, I'd be happy to give away some of the pups. Last autumn I bought a bulb of I. narcissiflora at the U.C.B. Botanic Garden. I can't wait to compare the flowers of the two, or even attempt to cross. I. narcissiflora is a much less robust plant: smaller in almost every dimension. Best, David E. ________________________________ From: J.E. Shields <jshields@indy.net> To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Wed, July 20, 2011 3:40:06 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Seed from Ismene Festalis Hi David, The seedling is alive and well, with two leaves growing. I've no idea how long it will take to get to bloom size, but I've grown Ismene Festalis and relatives over the years. I'm really eager to see what its flower will look like -- someday. I really appreciate your sharing the seed with me. I kept its pot inside the greenhouse until it started to grow this summer, when I moved it out to my deck with 50 or 100 other pots of various bulbs. I'll keep you posted. Regards, Jim At 09:44 AM 11/29/2010 -0800, you wrote: >Hi Jim, > I'm the one who sent you the seed. My xfestalis produced two seeds > this year; >I sent you one, and planted the other myself. Alas, a bird plucked mine >out and >devoured it before it germinated. > > I'm glad you wrote about it -- I was wondering how it was > progressing. You >have to be careful with the seedling now -- while it has rooted, this is its >dormant time, and it can rot if kept too moist. It won't leaf out until late >spring - early summer. At least, that's how my earlier xfestalis seedlings >progressed. > > I don't know how long it will take to get to blooming size; mine have > not yet >reached that size. I'm quite anxious to see it flower -- whether it is >true to >type, especially as xfestalis is supposed to be a sterile hybrid. > >David E. >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA