Hi, All >Cathy, I'm sure yours would be much happier in the ground. I second that--I find them very slow to start flowering. Never actually checked how long it takes to start flowering, but my assumption is five years or more. Of course, mine are sown in "clumps", and might do better if separated. They also haven't ever been fertilized, which probably would speed things up quite a bit. The seedlings transplanted this past summer were over a year old, and the largest probably had three leaves and was slightly over a foot tall. In addition, they are probably much hardier in the ground--they seem to freeze fairly readily in containers here, while plants in the ground are not effected. (ie, the roots/corms are not as hardy as the leaves, a common situation) >Put them somewhere that you water in summer. They are rather elegant in bloom They show up much better if you can give them a background. Close to a walkway may not be a good idea--I've cut myself on the leaves, and also while trying to strip the seed pods from the flower stem. There are more dead leaves on mine this winter than I can remember from years past. There are always a few, but I hadn't ever considered trimming off dead leaves-but this year, it might be a good idea. In addition to the nearly tubular shape shown in Mary Sue/Bob's picture, I have one that is such a wide funnel shape that it is nearly flat. It's a soft pink, a lighter color than I'd like. At least one species is supposed to have similiar flower shape, though I don't remember which one. Dierama erectum and Dierama trichorhizum are described as having upright flowers. I don't know if any are blessed with fragrance, but it would be a big plus if they were. Taking pictures is a pain--any breath of air makes the flowers move, so the picture is never quite in focus. Incidentally, Dierama are interesting for an uncommon reason: the flowers open from the top down, not the bottom up the way most flowers progress. Plant height is said to vary from 15 inches to ten feet, so there are plants for many garden locations. Hardiness? So far, pretty much unknown. Seneca Hill, in New York, grows several species, and I've seen references of hardy to 0F, but of course some species are hardier than others. Dierama igneum, insigne, luteoalbidum, medium, mossii, pulcherrimum, reynoldsii, are reported hardy to Zone 7, with D. trichorhizum Zone 6. Herronswood Nursery in Washington rates several species as hardy, but I am a little loath to accept their ratings-what they consider hardy, sometimes isn't here. As more species are tried, some of them may prove hardier. I found the following passage interesting: "Goldblatt (1969) stated that the genera Dierama, Ixia and Synnotia are related to Sparaxis and form a natural group. All have a diploid chromosome number of 2N=20. Intergeneric hybrids are reported. Goldblatt crossed Sparaxis tricolor with Synnotia variegate with no noticeable reduction in seed production. The two genera were also crossed by Johan Loubser, who raised a sturdy hybrid generation." "Cape Bulbs, Richard Doutt p205-6." I can certainly see a relationship between Dierama and Ixia. If anyone knows of hybrids of these two, I'd enjoy hearing about them. Ken, western Oregon