I'm for VULGAH when it's in the form of a Cardiocrinum. The highly scented flowers are definitely worth the wait and until then you can enjoy the glossy heart-shaped leaves. Arisaema - I love the incredible variation in leaf forms you find in this genus; the stems are often mottled with intricate patterns of greys, browns, pinks and greens. Amorphophallus konjac - for similar reasons to the Arisaemas - the leaves are incredible and give a very tropical feel to my shady border. I'm not confident about leaving it outside for the winter here in the UK, so it gets to enjoy a slightly different spot each year. Crocosmia - I prefer to use the hybrids with warmer, orange coloured flowers for shade. They look particularly good around my Dicksonia tree fern. Tricyrtis - I find the yellow (spotted purple or red) flowered species look better in shade. Cautleya are also great with their bright orange, red and yellow flowers like mini Hedychiums - quite hardy too. Calocasia esculata - this isn't one of the special forms, I picked up a load of the tubers at a local Chinese supermarket. They are great for giving a jungle feel to your garden and I've been surprised to find that they are hardier than I had expected, although still better if you store them over winter. Just over five... Matthew Gale Birmingham, UK