Mary Sue et al., Merendera are not just flowering in the southern hemisphere, flowering time is getting much closer here in the eastern US ! My 'year' always starts in September, and Merendera montana (syn. pyrenaica) is never far from being the first to welcome in the 'New Year', along with Sternbergia sicula and other early Colchicums such as C. macrophyllum and some of the early dwarf species. I grow several accessions from the Pyrenees and northern Spain, each varying in depth of color (pink), some have a bicolor effect. They also vary a little in flowering time - my 5 collections initiating flowering over a three week period. They make fine pot specimens but also do very well here in the open ground, being hardy to at least zone 6. They look superb in full sun when the open flowers lie fully prostrate on the ground like large pink stars. The first evidence of their reappearance is the sight of a pinkish-white bud nosing through the grit. They are very easy to grow and simple to propagate, flowering-size corms making at least one offset a year. Seedlings reach flowering size in around 4 years. Compost should be the standard alpine bulb mix - drainage being the key. Best, John Dr John T Lonsdale 407 Edgewood Drive Exton PA 19341 USA 610 594 9232 - phone 801 327 1266 - fax Zone 6b