At 11:15 AM 4/24/2005 -0700, Harold Koopowitz wrote: >How much has been done with Frit hybrids/ I think it could be a new >exciting avenue. I don't know of any Frit hybrids that are offered commercially. There are a few named natural stable hybrids, such as F. x kittaniae, and some authorities consider F. eastwoodiae a stable natural hybrid between F. micrantha and F. recurva. My possible purdyi x biflora is so large and flowering so young that it may be a useful nursery item, especially if its vigor includes the copious production of offsets -- a characteristic of biflora but not of the rare purdyi. Diana Chapman wrote me recently that some F. liliacea seedling bulbs I sent her include two individuals that seem to have F. agrestis as a parent; both of those species are rare and endangered, and Diana said that wild hybrids had been reported in the past. As interesting as these hybrids are, especially if they are better garden plants than their parents, most people who grow frits are intent on having the true species, so I am rather embarrassed to have sent out possibly mixed seed. However, I hope that anyone who grows exchange seed from garden sources is aware of this possibility and verifies the seedlings before passing on their seeds in turn. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon