Angelo, interesting, as I am certain the plants I saw were blooming in February and, other than a short rest from flowers in Summer, have a long season judging from the seed pods. It may be that they are actually ever-bloomers, but I have coincidentally seen them non-blooming in Summer. Like I mentioned, mine have yet to flower and seem to prefer the cooler season for growing. Alberto mentioned that they are easy from seed, which has not been my experience, either. In fact, I find most Irids difficult to germinate and grow on. When I was in Florida last April-May, I saw a few plants blooming, but most seemd to be finsished for the season. I even transplanted a few for my sister. There they were growing in almost pure sand in full sun. As most of Florida is actually pretty dry for Summer, it may be that the plants simply take advantage of the warm, wet months and thus I've encountered them blooming in Winter- Spring. my problem with wet is in the Winter. We rarely have a true deep freeze in Cologne, maybe two weeks in February, but it is wet from December to May and many plants rot if not protected against the standing water and temps just above freezing. I have even made raised and sloped beds to aid drainage, which helps considerably. Of course, so no one misunderstands, the plants are protected from frost in an enclosure, but I give them as much fresh air as possible in Winter. I hope to bloom them at some point and post fotos. Ciao, Jamie V. Cologne Zone 8 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Angelo Porcelli" <ang.por@alice.it> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 5:53 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Dietes > Jamie, > > I am surprised to hear Dietes to be a winter blooming plant in conservatory in Germany. > Here, I grow bicolor and grandiflora and both flower continuosuly from April now. Indeed bicolor is more fioriferous, being the stalks much branched even if flowers last just one day. Grandiflora has larger flowers, which last a couple of days (not in the hottest days) but to have a good show the plant must be large. Bicolor performs much better in partial shade, while grandiflora in sun. Anyway, they need a lot of moisture in summer and I can't overwater them. > > ciao > Angelo > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >