Dear All; A quick count tallied almost 200 bloom stalks on various Lycoris, but a disappointment. Many plants that had multiple stalks last year had only 1 or 2 this year. Others (as reported earlier ) were very dwarf (4 inches tall instead of 30 inches). Thee comprise only a few of the early species and hybrids. A batch of 25 L squamigera sported 3 stalks where last year there were 10 x this many. L. longituba is about 1/5 of its last years' stalks. Only a few spots are looking good. 2 dozen stalks of L. sprengeria are a showy clump and a dozen L. incarnata have impact, but both of these are in well watered places, the majority have had far less than 1/2 inch of rain over the last 2 months. I just started to water a bed with about 75 bulbs of various species and stalks have quickly begun to show compared to other beds of the same species with NO stalks up yet. With essentially no rain and definitely no deep rain and temps still skirting above 100 F (104 F today) the season will be considerably worse than last year. There are many more species and hybrids to come. Should we ever get rain (and cooler temps) I'd hope to see considerably more bloom stalks in my future. This is perhaps an extreme test, but I am very curious to see the results of a good heavy rain on stalk production. First it must rain, won't it? 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 +