At 04:32 16/02/05, you wrote: >Dear Paul, > Do you have a picture of your Harrisiana? >You say it is the same as the Hughii? Hugh, I have been "told" that var harrisiana is a synonym for S. hughii but apparently that is wrong. Maybe that synonymy is just in what is in commerce around the place? According to Angelo in Italy there are very specific differences and he doubts that the real S. hughii is in cultivation, or at least not freely available. I can send you a picture if you'd!! >You mention 2 other forms which flower regularly when >the common species sometimes misses a year. Which 2? I meant that the 2 other forms I have (i.e the var harrisiana and the 'Alba') flower very very regularly while the straight species "can" skip a year. It was commented on one of the lists last year I think that it is common for S. peruviana to miss a year, but I have only ever seen it happen once. I have grown it for years in pots and I have never had a pot fail to flower, no matter HOW bad the conditions it was in were <grin>, but I HAVE had my clump that has been in the ground for 6 years miss flowering one year for unknown reasons. I was stumped until I read the comment about it being common for missing years. It obviously isn't "common" for it to do it here but it can on rare ocassions. The pure white 'Alba' has flowered every year I have had it in pots or in the ground, and the var harrisiana flowers in spring and/or autumn as it feels like it. I have found that the var harrisiana tends to be much more reactive to its environmental conditions as it tends to go dormant if it gets dry, whereas the straight species and the 'Alba' hold on for much longer. The var harrisiana tends to put up leaves whenever things are right for it, and I think this may be why it can flower in spring or autumn as it feels like it.... in a good year it can then flower in both spring and autumn rather than just sticking to spring like the 'Alba' and the straight species we have here. The harrisiana observations though are just from my own plants that I have been growing for the last 3 or so years. We are in a bad drought at the moment but the pots are watered regularly. It has behaved quite differently in similar conditions to the other ones, which is why I have noticed it so clearly. I do not know if these observations hold true for others as I have not spoken to anyone else growing it. Hopefully this explains more clearly what I was meaning. Cheers. Paul Tyerman Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9 Growing.... Galanthus, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Trilliums, Cyclamen, Crocus, Cyrtanthus, Oxalis, Liliums, Hellebores, Aroids, Irises plus just about anything else that doesn't move!!!!!