Carol, this reminds me of one of my first experiences as a gardening "expert". When I was about eleven or twelve years old, I had an older friend who did a lot to encourage my interest in gardening. One summer I told her about my Peruvian daffodils, as Hymenocallis calathina (one of the parents of H. x festalis) is often called. I talked about them enthusiastically, and talked her in to trying them. Her one question, which she repeated over and over, was "do they have leaves when they bloom? They're not like an amaryllis, are they?" I enthusiastically assured her that they did have leaves and not a bare stalk like an amaryllis, not so much because I was sure they did, but because I sensed that she would not want them is they did not have leaves at bloom time. In retrospect, I'm sure that she knew the plant and knew that they did not bloom with a full compliment of leaves: she was testing me. I guess I flunked the test. Or maybe that's what convinced her to spend so much time with me: I obviously had a lot to learn. When grown as we grow them here - that is, outside for the summer and dug and stored dry for the winter, the flower scape grows before the leaves are much if at all developed. Most of the leaves come later. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I have not yet planted out my various Hymenocallis.