Rich Haard wrote, >Here is Camassia leichtleinii ssp suksdorfii grown at our farm seed >source Lummi Rocks, a pure stand, that i have been growing at our >farm many years. Colors vary on this island from pure white the a >pale blue and a deep blue (purple). We are also growing a Oregon ss >Camassia leichtleinii from seed obtained from a nursery in Oregon >(Williamette Valley ss). >http://flic.kr/p/KM5oQ/ > >Here is the 'pale yellow' Camassia leichtleinii ssp leichtleinii >image taken 2 weeks ago near Roseburg, Oregon. >I've noticed before in the area but this time driving around back >roads in the area it does indeed dominate the local plants. The freeway I-5 runs down the middle of the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and this time of year it's interesting to note the continuum of color forms in Camassia leichtlinii (note spelling) in the roadside ditches. As you go south, populations change from deep blue-purple to paler blue to near-white. As far as I know, the only C. leichtlinii form in commerce is the semi-double greenish-white form, called, I think, 'Alboplena'. I'm surprised the deep blue ones aren't widely grown, but in fact I don't grow them myself, never having managed to stop by the right spot in the road when they were in seed, if the Highway Department had not mowed them down before that. I do grow several forms of C. quamash and C. cusickii. Like other correspondents, I find the forms that emerge with variegated foliage don't keep the variegation. The one I have is 'Blue Melody'. Recently a PBS member was here and noticed the very large, mid-blue form of C. quamash, subsp. maxima, which I grew from seed identified as 'Puget Blue'. There is also a small commercial clone 'Orion' with very narrow leaves, and a short one, subsp. breviflora, grown from seed collected near the Oregon-California border. All these plants enjoy sites that are moist to wet in winter and spring, but they can dry out later. They go dormant by mid-July and self-sow readily where suited, such as in the "rain gardens" (bioswales) that are now being promoted in this area to curb runoff. I had to install one of these features in order to get planning permission for my bulb house, and the camasses are very happy in it, as is Fritillaria camtschatcensis. The construction of a "rain garden" is pretty labor-intensive because of the deep excavation and layers of material; I hired a crew with a Bobcat (small excavating machine) to do it. Its downhill side is surrounded by a berm that is suitable for other kinds of plants, and a "bulb lawn" (currently annoying the neighbors until it's ready to mow) is downhill of that, today featuring the later-flowering Scilla species and, of all things, Gladiolus tristis. I just threw baskets of leftover bulbs in under the sod and left them to their own devices. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA