James Waddick <jwaddick@kc.rr.com> wrote: >Nectaroscordum siculum - I planted 3 or 4 and >only one survived and slowly grew to bloom and >now is putting up a half dozen spikes of weird, >but wonderful flower heads. Not to everyone's taste. >Wish there were more colorful cvs. Anyone know >of improvements? Don't recall much mention of >this, is it widely grown?" I can relate to Jim's description of "weird but wonderful flower heads". I'm not sure why this plant is "not to everyone's taste", but it certainly appears to be the case that some people don't like Nectaroscordum. I find the genus fascinating, stately, a bit coarse but impressive in flower, and whimsical in leaf. Regarding improvements or other species, I refer readers to the http://www.hoogdix.com/ website, click on "Descriptive Catalog", then select Nectaroscordum, for a bit more information on the "siculum" vs. "bulgaricum confusion. There is another species that's much harder to find, namely N. tripetale, with rich pink flowers, and reportedly it's a real stunner. I have posted three good images of N. siculum to the PBS wiki, under a new Nectaroscordum page, located at: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5 ============================================== >> web site under construction - http://www.plantbuzz.com/ << alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western american alpines, iris, plants of all types!