Greetings All, I too share in the frustration of trying to grow this plant. It's usually readily available in the spring in the Boston area at the more complete nurseries although the majority of them are from Holland and may harbor the afore mentioned virus. I have for many years been "lured" by the alleged ease of growing and flowering this beautiful bulb and every time...the same thing...nothing (heavy sigh). Again in frustration it ended up in the compost heap. Maybe one day I'll be brave and try it again...we'll see. Warm Regards, Fred Biasella Cambridge (Boston) MA USDA Zone 6B -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Mary Sue Ittner Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 10:58 AM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: [pbs] Childanthus fragrans Dear All, Julian Slade from Australia posted this on the AB Images list a few days ago and I thought everyone not on that list would be interested so with Julian's permission I am sharing it. In response to his question about whether anyone else was growing and flowering this there was another Australian with it in bloom and a couple who had not ever been able to get it to flower. The one whose was in bloom said she had hers in her shed until it started to leaf out and then she placed it in the garden where it had to count on what nature provided. They had a very dry period followed by rain so her experience is similar to Julian's described below. I threw mine out long ago since it never bloomed, but for those of you who are still trying perhaps this post will help. In giving me permission to share this, Julian also says, "I should also add the caveat that my results could also possibly be due to luck!" Mary Sue Dear all In the past week I managed to flower Chlidanthus fragrans, the so-called Sea Daffodil. It has a reputation of being difficult to flower; plants in cultivation appear to be always virus-infected. I have had this for many years, and the only thing I did differently this year was to NOT water the pot, despite the emerging leaves. When the leaf tips dried off, I then watered the pot to saturation point. Then, just over a week ago and to my great delight, 2 out of the dozen or so bulbs rapidly burst into bloom. Even though it is obvious that this species has perfumed flowers, I have never read exactly what it smells like: to me it has a delicate scent rather like lemon squash with added sugar. Does anyone else grow (and flower) this? Regards Julian Slade _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php