Shawn Pollard mentioned that "Hermodactylus tuberosus has >been blooming for a fortnight now" despite " >late February when we finally had a night in the >mid-teens Fahrenheit." This suggests that this Iris relative (sometimes called "widow iris" for its drab greeny-purple color patterns) is hardier than reference books suggest. I'll move some into the garden this summer. Several years ago Monocot Nursery offered separate color forms of this species and I bought several. They are flowering now in the bulb frames and are quite interesting, particularly one that has style arms of the peculiar turquoise-blue that one sees in Ixia viridiflora (I suppose that name is changed now) and some Puyas. I hope it increases as well as the typical color form! Jane McGary NW Oregon