Hello Jane, I read your letter in the earthlink net of Bulbs L (I am new to this so I don’t know everything about it yet). Your question about Bellevalia pychnanta is an interesting one. I grow this Bellevalia, together with a few other ones. As you perhaps know I also grow many species and cultivars of Muscari. The Bellevalia pychnanta I grow is precisely like the ones you describe as the Archibald ones. They are correct. The ones you described as received from Dutch growers is certainly not B. pychnanta. The yellow you mentioned is not a rim but anthers sticking out. They look lovely indeed but these are not rims as found in many Muscaris. If you have a picture of it that you can send me I could possibly tell you more about it. The bulbs Dutch growers offer are often more vigorous because they select the stronger growers for their stock. In a commercial stock the stronger growers are used for planting material, the weaker ones usually disappear out of the stock as they are ‘overgrown’ by the stronger ones. Especially in an old stock there will be a difference between the original wild form. You can find some info about the parentage of Valerie Finnis on my website. If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Kind Regards, Martin Philippo, Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands e-mail: martin philippo <mailto:martin.philippo@tiscali.nl> website: muscaripages <http://muscaripages.tiscaliweb.nl/>