Dear All, It is that time of year for Moraea polystachya to bloom in my garden. Like Paul Tyerman I have had mixed success with this plant in my garden. When it blooms, it blooms for such a long time and is so pretty that it is a favorite of mine. But for years with me it has been hit or miss whether it would bloom. I tried watering more in summer, planting it in different spots, but never found the magic bullet. Then Dirk Wallace gave me seed he labeled Moraea venenata. It germinated in less than a month in September and bloomed the second year in the fall and it has bloomed every year since (not every corm, but enough to satisfy me). And I really love it. It looks just like Moraea polystachya however and my attempts to key it out still made me think that was what it was. Dirk told me he had it from a good source and we both agreed it was a wonderful plant so I decided it didn't matter for enjoying the plant but in my mind it remained M. venenata ? This year when it is blooming again (I have it in a pot) Moraea polystachya is also blooming in the raised beds I redid last year. So I decided to gather some confidence and tackle the key and the descriptions of the two plants in the Moraea book. I believe both plants are Moraea polystachya. The plant that is supposed to be Moraea venenata is too tall, the outer tepals are too short (the flowers are supposed to be bigger than Moraea polystachya and the plant shorter). Also the seed pods are not long enough. At least this is true of my plants. If any of you growing this in Australia as M. venenata have plants in seed please check out your pods. M. venenata is supposed to have pods that are cylindric and 16-20 mm long and are included in the spathe until nearly ripe. M . polystachya seeds are 11-16 mm. long and are well exserted from the spathe. My plants of the suspect plant that have been blooming only since late September, already have a visible seed pod. To anyone I have given seed or corms of this plant as Moraea venenata if you are reading please change your label. Finally, in the most recent BX my friend Bob Werra offered seed of Moraea polystachya which he says does very well for him. I've had a couple of unusual circumstances preventing my growing corms of his even though he has given some to me. I have seven now from his seed so one of these days I hope to have blooms. Bob says that his does not start blooming in the fall, but instead blooms in winter. That would mean it they behaved the same for me that I could have one group of plants bloom for many months and as they were ending their cycle a new cycle on the plants from his seed would start. But I am wondering if the time of bloom could be variable each year. Last year the Moraea polystachya in the bed I redid bloomed Jan-Mar. This year the same plant has started to bloom in Oct. So maybe when it blooms is a function of environmental conditions and not the plant itself. The plant I grew as Moraea venenata has started blooming reliably each year in the fall but I have always grown it in a pot. Last year it started blooming in October and the last blooms were in January. This is a very long time considering some Moraeas are in bloom for less than a week in my garden. Does anyone in South Africa grow the real Moraea venenata? Mary Sue Mary Sue Ittner California's North Coast Wet mild winters with occasional frost Dry mild summers