Dear all, The recent postings concerning rapid flowering times from sowing to bloom of various geophytes are, in my view, very worthwhile, as they tend to counter the view held among many gardeners that 'bulbs are not worth growing from seed as they take too long to flower'! Having said that, the effect of climate and situation cannot be over-estimated. This is particularly true of narrow leaved irids, eg Romulea, where the high light levels of, for example, southern Australia will lead to flowering in much shorter times form seed than those achievable under natural lighting conditions, in, for example, Northern Europe. It will be helpful if compendia of such flowering times include the relevant climatic information on which the data is based, in order to avoid over-optimism in some circumstances. Robin Attrill