Helaa Jane and Uli, I grow a lovely for of this species found in the Florence area temperarily called 'Villa Petraya" More flowers per stem and shows well above the flowers. I have pictures in my website of both forms to show the difference. It might well be the subsp chionophyllus. Is hardy in our area (zone 8-9) Lauw de Jager http://www.bulbargence.com/ South of France (zone 8 Olivier) le 9/04/04 18:13, Jane McGary à janemcgary@earthlink.net a écrit : Johannes-Ulrich wrote, >> I grow some bulbs of Hyacinthus orientalis wild form, some in the open garden >> in a mesh pot to avoid them being eaten by mice and some in a pot in the >> greenhouse because I think they are not fully hardy. > > I have grown this bulb from seed and planted the bulbs out in the garden > when they were about 3 years old. They have remained there for about 8 > years now, flowering well each season. I don't think there is any danger of > their being eaten by mice or other rodents -- I believe hyacinth bulbs are > unpalatable to these pests, since they are never bothered in my garden, > which is horribly infested with both field mice and voles. My plants have > survived temperatures as low as 5 degrees F (about minus 15 C). I also grow > a form called H. orientalis subsp. chionophyllus, which has lighter blue, > larger flowers; it is in the bulb frame at present. Lauw de Jager Bulb'Argence Mas d'Argence 30300 Fourques France tel 31(0)466 016 519 fax 0466 011 245 http://www.bulbargence.com/