I grow only the group of Ornithogalum species described as follows in Alberto Castillo's introduction: >C) The autumn-winter-spring growers from the countries around the >Mediterranean Sea, mostly Spring bloomers. They demand sunlight and cool >growing conditions and are hardy to very hardy. I've tried a few of the South African species outdoors but they did not survive the winters here, where typical lows are around 15 F/minus 10 C, with much lower temperatures about every four years. Only O. dubium is ornamental enough to merit greenhouse space, and bulbs I have purchased have not been healthy (I believe it is susceptible to virus), so I don't have it now. The species I am growing in the garden and/or bulb frame are: Oo. balansae (syn. oligophyllum), chionophilum, fimbriatum, lanceolatum, longibracteatum (S. African), narbonense, nutans (received as O. arcuatum), orthophyllum, platyphyllum, ponticum, pyrenaicum, reverchonii, sintenisii, sphaerocarpum, umbellatum, and an unidentified sp. from Thessaly. Some of these names may represent overlapping entities, since I grew a lot of them from seed purchased from Czech collectors, who often use Russian floras that don't coincide entirely with western European lists. All these species can withstand at least a few degrees of frost, and some (e.g., nutans, orthophyllum, ponticum, pyrenaicum, umbellatum) are undoubtedly hardy to at least zero F/minus 18 C. O. umbellatum, commonly called "Star of Bethlehem," is naturalized in parts of the USA. The most interesting to me are those that flower on very short stems, such as O. balansae and O. fimbriatum. These are slow to increase and would be appropriate for a mild-climate rock garden. O. orthophyllum is like a short-stemmed version of O. umbellatum. O. reverchonii is often regarded as the gem of the genus (perhaps because it is rare in the wild?), but its foliage is not too attractive (it is a crevice plant in nature and hangs down). O. nutans has pendent flowers with gray-green stripes on the outside, subtly attractive. The most ornamental for the border are O. narbonense and the similar but less amenable O. ponticum, which are rather tall with bright white flowers in a long spike. The green O. pyrenaicum is very easily grown and appealing as a curiosity. O. umbellatum is most useful for naturalizing in rough grass. In summary, the Eurasian ornithogalums, all white or green flowered, fall into three general groups in terms of form: short ones, tall ones with broad racemes, and tall ones with long, slender racemes. They are easily grown from seed, which is usually set by garden plants though not always in abundance. Some increase rapidly by offsets, and others don't. They do not seem to be attacked by any pests, including slugs and rodents, so they are good "insurance" if the showier bulbs get eaten. The tall ones tend to flower in late spring or early summer (O. ponticum is the last to bloom) and the short ones in late winter. Jane McGary Northwest Oregon, USA