Hi Jim, I was suggesting that in a horticultural or botanical setting, derivations of the word "bloom" should be reserved for discussions concerning blooms (epicuticular wax) and are inappropriate when referring to flowers or flowering. For example: "Galanthus elwesii plants have a beautiful silvery bloom on their leaves, only outdone by their stunning flowers." or, "The flowering times of plants have no correlation with the intensity of the blooms on their leaves." or, "I will refer to the flowers on my flowering plants however I want to!" Currently, anyone attempting to search the PBS archive for information about actual blooms (epicuticular wax) must sort through a daunting number of posts about flowers and flowering that have nothing to do with blooms (epicuticular wax). But, old habits die hard and best not to mention any of this to "Blooms of Bressingham." Nathan At 02:55 PM 2/5/2014, you wrote: >Nathan, were you making a pun with your reference to epicuticular >wax, or were you suggesting that there is something to be learned >with respect to time of bloom by observing the condition of epicuticular wax? > >Jim McKenney >Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 >