Dear all, I have to agree with Jim Waddick -- where he and I live (near the 40th parallel) hardiness is the overriding concern in Crinum breeding. I have 'Emma Jones' in the ground in a very protected site; is she fertile with anything else? I found that the [bulbispermum 'Roseum' X lugardiae] hardy seedlings did not have any of the roseum color, but the flowers stood up reasonably well. Next I'll try a backcross with a better bulbispermum parent. Some of the [bulbispermum 'Roseum' X lugardiae] seedlings, planted out in the field, sent up three scapes in succession. Rain is a problem, but Japanese beetles are a far worse problem where defacing otherwise pretty flowers is concerned. To get bloom all summer, I would have to have bulbispermum, macowanii (might be hardy here?), then [bulbispermum 'Roseum' X lugardiae] and finally variabile in my plantings. And this is before we even think about flower form, color, etc. Jim Shields in central Indiana ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA