Sun break photos
Antennaria@aol.com (Mon, 01 Mar 2004 20:25:42 PST)

Thanks Jane for sharing so many beautiful photos of intriquing plants. Your
Fritillaria photos are jaw-dropping, and I now realize how much I'm missing by
only growing a couple of "frits".
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

I'm literally bowled over by the photo of the breath-taking Fritillaria
stenanthera (Rhinopetalum) and the sheer number of flowers. I've read about how
difficult these are. How have you cultivated your fine specimen? What's the
consensus regarding the taxonomic status of the genus Rhinopetalum as a breakaway
fgenus rom Fritillaria?

I have always wondered about the multitudes of Gagea. The photo of G.
fibrosa shows a handsome plant. Where is it from? It looks like a bright yellow
Ornithogalum of sorts (based on narrow wiry foliage and starry flower shape).
Nice.

By the way, we have "sun breaks" here in the east coast too. Some other
regional weather specialties, which only started occurring in the last 15 years or
so, include "snizzle" (feeble SNow and rainy driZZLE), "snow bursts" (an
enthusiastically brandished term for sudden snow or squalls), "rain bursts" (when
it's too warm to be a snow burst), and "rain storm" - a highly elevated
definition of an old term... now means any rain precipitation whatsoever, even
MIZZLE (mist and drizzle) of FIZZLE (fog and drizzle).

Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western
american alpines, iris, plants of all types!