Dear All: Veratrum came up for discussion briefly earlier this year. Both V. nigrum and V. album grow here in my garden. V. nigrum is in what I call the "bark/grit" bed, and V. album is in one of the bog trays. Neither has bloomed here yet, although each gets bigger yearly. Few garden visitors seem to know about these plants. My Veratrum album has been mistaked for a Cypripedium. V. nigrum is such a bold foliage plant; why isn't it better known? I've posted a photo to the wiki of V. nigrum taken last year. It's bigger this year. Take a look at: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, zone 7 where I have Helleborus, hellebore and helleborine all growing happily (excuse the anthropomorphism, please).