Hi all, The past few weeks, we have had blooms in the greenhouse on two groups of Hymenocallis liriosme. One has huge flowers, 2.5 inch wide cups and 9 inches across, tip to tip, on the tepals. Thad Howard collected that one for me in Texas several years ago. The other liriosme originated in a river in Louisiana, but spent several years on a mountain top in Arkansas before making their way into my collection. These are noticeably smaller plants -- and flowers -- than Thad's plants. Hymenocallis occidentalis occurs in nature as far north as southernmost Indiana and southern Illinois, although I've not seen it in the wild. It is quite similar to H. liriosme, and makes a very handsome plant in leaf and in bloom. Unlike liriosme, which blooms in early Spring, the occidentalis bloom in late summer. For me at least their bloom periods never overlap. A few years ago, I moved almost all my potted bulbs of H. occidentalis outdoors into the garden. They were surviving but not really doing well in the pots. I had accessions of occidentalis from several different States in that collection, but unfortunately not all of them made it in the garden. The ones that did best were my #1141, plants which originated in Arkansas but spent the past ca. 100 years growing on a farm in southern Indiana. I suspect they have undergone some selection for adaptation to the Indiana climate over that century. A plant from the boot heel of Missouri disappeared completely. Plants from Tennessee fared as badly, for reasons that I can't figure out. I'll have to keep these in pots from now on (my generous friend in Tennessee sent me a couple replacement bulbs.) Bulbs that came from Gene Bush in southern Indiana, but that he apparently did not originate, were planted outdoors in the ground when first received. They have done very well, coming up every year and blooming every summer. My only complaint would be that they have not divided at all. I see no sign of offsets. However, they set abundant seed every summer, if hand pollinated. Two bulbs from We-Do nursery in North Carolina were also planted outdoors. One still survives, but has not bloomed the last couple summers. The one that went missing may have been the victim of over-zealous summer garden employees' weeding. Hymenocallis occidentalis is a much-overlooked hardy bulb for moderate northern climates. They bloom in August as a rule. At Chicago and more northern latitudes, they might survive outdoors in the ground, but I'm told they do not bloom. Further north, try growing them in a large pot and store them in winter in the basement. They want a little water occasionally even in winter; otherwise, keep them cool and on the dry side in winter. Move the pot outdoors into light shade when mild weather returns; feed and water generously in summer. I have a web page on Hymenocallis at: http://shieldsgardens.com/amaryllids/… and it includes a picture of H. occidentalis in bloom. Now I'm trying to see if I can get seeds from crossing Hymenocallis liriosme X H. occidentalis. Will I get the hybrids? Will they be hardy here in Indiana? Will they bloom in June or July, rather than in April or August? We'll probably just have to wait to see. Jim Shields in central Indiana (USA) ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA