Dear All, Some weeks ago I added a picture of Gladiolus gracilis to the South African Gladiolus page. This bloomed in March. Gladiolus caeruleus often blooms for me in January or occasionally February and almost always when it is raining so it is a gamble every year. The flowers on G. gracilis are smaller, but it the ones I have bloom later, it may work better for me. More recently I have added a picture of Gladiolus caryophyllaceus which has naturalized in Western Australia, but hasn't increased at all for me. I tried to photograph where it is blooming in a raised bed, but couldn't get it in focus until I placed something solid behind it. Blooming for me this year for the first time from seed was Gladiolus quadrangularis. I had this once before from purchased bulbs, but they never bloomed again after the first year. The flowers from before were orange and this species is described as orange to red. Mine grown from seed were yellow and kind of a light apricot-orange. The shape seems right, but not the color. Perhaps they are hybrids. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Another genus page I have added several pictures to is Hesperantha. I added a picture of a sp. that has troubled me for a number of years since it came as Geissorhiza seed. I went through the whole Geissorhiza monograph and couldn't figure it out. After my lesson from Rhoda about telling Geissorhiza and Hesperantha apart, I am now sure it is a Hesperantha. I finally threw out the corms (I thought) since it has small flowers that only open very late in the day (if it is warm enough) and close shortly afterwards. As I was repotting this year I came across a lot of unidentified corms (that looked like Geissorhizas.) Not wanting to throw out something that could be special I potted them up. Most didn't come up, but the ones that did appear to be the Hesperantha I thought was gone. I plan to toss it again unless someone writes me privately and wants them. Two other Hesperanthas blooming right now that are more exciting are H. pauciflora and H. pilosa. I saw H. pauciflora in mass in South Africa in a wet year which was very impressive. Some day I'll dig out that slide and scan it. I just have the single flower in bloom making its name seem more appropriate, but this has opened every day for almost a week and is very pretty. Blooming for the first time from seed this year was H. pilosa. I know a lot of these pink Hesperanthas look alike, but this one looked different on the back. It also is a day time bloomer. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Mary Sue Mary Sue Ittner California's North Coast Wet mild winters with occasional frost Dry mild summers