> > Can anyone report long term success with them? > Jim et al, Is this meaning anyone in your area, or anyone at all? I can not believe anyone has any problems with them as they grow so easily for me here in Canberra, Australia. I have one variety called 'Apollo' that I started with I think ti was 5 originally about 10 years ago and if I counted everything I have given away to friends etc and their likely multiples then there would be thousands of them from those 5 bulbs by now. They multiply into large clumps a foot or so wide at the base before they sort of settle down into that size and grow on and flower happily each year. I have only ever found one Dutch Iris that has been a problem to me and that is an old variety called "Bronze Queen" (I saw reference to this in another email..... what we had available here under that name was a much older smaller variety than the moderner hybrids and it was basically bronze, no blue. The current bronze and blue combination has gone through a couple of names such as "Bronze Beauty" and I think "Mystic Beauty", and there are other varieties such as "Marquette" that have that sort of combination too). In my case (and a friend's too) the Bronze Queen died out over a couple of years. Being a very old variety I have been unable to source it since then, which is a shame as I loved the pure bronzey colour, even if the flowers were smaller than "normal" <grin> I won't go into growing them here until I find out whether Jim's question about anyone having long term success was only intended to be aimed at those in his zone. I am warmer at maybe -8'C during winter. I still thought I'd respond as I have definitely had clumps of these in both pots and the ground that have survived (and continue to survive) for many years now with no signs of dying out. In fact I have recently planted out some varieties that were neglected in pots for a number of years and they are renewing themselves rapidly and are starting to flower this year for the first time in years (actually getting food helps <Grin>). Anyway, if the query from Jim was directed at locals then I apologise for butting in. Cheers. Paul Tyerman Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9 mailto:ptyerman@ozemail.com.au Growing.... Galanthus, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Cyclamen, Crocus, Cyrtanthus, Oxalis, Liliums, Hellebores, Aroids, Irises plus just about anything else that doesn't move!!!!!