Dear Jim and Joe, I don't believe either of you were members of our list when we discussed Nerine as the topic of the week. Hamish Sloan provided some first rate introductions I have referenced below. And there was discussion that month as well (April 2003). http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist/old.php/… http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist/old.php/… When I complained to Rod Saunders about my difficulty getting Nerine to flower he told me I should be growing the winter rainfall ones. Since that time I am doing better getting the summer rainfall species to bloom since they are mostly all in pots where I can give them regular water and occasional liquid fertilizer. With one exception my ground is too dry in summer to have them in the ground. I am less successful with the winter rainfall ones which I should be able to grow which is a contrast from my usual experience. I ordered Nerine humilis (a winter rainfall species) from Rhoda and Cameron when we did a group order a couple years ago and it is now in synch with this hemisphere so perhaps next year it will bloom. Nerine platypetala and Nerine angustifolia have just about finished blooming and N. masoniorum and N. filifolia are just starting. I grow one that Jim Robinett called a cross between N. flexuousa and undulata, but flexuosa is now considered to be undulata and the one I have in a pot is blooming now. For two or three years now some of these I planted in the ground have bloomed, but usually later than the container ones and so far I don't see a spike. One of my pots of Nerine bowdenii has scapes, but not the other. On the other hand the Nerine sarniensis that I got from the Zinkowsi rescue are hit or miss bloomers. I have tried more water in summer, more heat in summer, but haven't yet got it figured out. Two of my pots have scapes at the moment and one started opening yesterday, but many of the rest are producing leaves so they may skip this year (again). Many of the ones that have bloomed have been so incredibly beautiful that I am loath to give up on them. I have a few going from seed I saved so will be curious to see if those will be more reliable. They are still small at the moment. Mary Sue