Dear all; Hardy Crinums have become a special addition to the garden This year has been exceptional and odd. Both my oldest x powelli and alba have bloomed like crazy this year and continue to put up scape after scape. Dozens and dozens, but the flowers seem smaller and less open than usual. This may be a result of an odd season with rain very early and now severe drought. C. bulbispermum bloomed heavily too, but have not put up later scapes as I recall them doing in wetter years. 'Catherine' - my all time favorite put up a bounty of stalks, but they all fell over just prior to bloom, twisted and flopped - not pretty. Another drought result? Now 'Cecil Houdyshel' (another xpowelli cross) is blooming better than ever -more stalks, longer bloom, bigger flowers etc. 'Ellen Bousanquet' has yet to pop up a single scape not most other named cvs. I don't see a pattern here, except to chalk it up to the extremes of rain/drought. I know we need some rain - serious E. Coast rain - but the Crinums do continue to put on a show by sheer numbers of flowers. Best Jim W. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 E-fax 419-781-8594 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +