Mary Gutierrez asked about Urginia macrocentra. This is from the grasslands of the Drakensberg, South Africa, where the curious, solitary tubular leaves stick up amongst the surounding vegetation. It's the sort of oddity to use in a plant identification challenge to really narrow the field down. I haven't seen the flowers but they are the usual starry greeny-white, very many on a long spike, not particularly striking. As for cultivation it is a summer-growing species: I've seen it with such good hardy plants as Agapanthus campanulatus, Diascia vigilis, Eucomis bicolor and Galtonia regalis on the slopes of Sentinel Peak. Like these it should do well in a sunny well-drained site in the Seattle area; excessive winter wet is the most likely potential problem. John Grimshaw Dr John M. Grimshaw Sycamore Cottage Colesbourne Nr Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL53 9NP Tel. 01242 870567 COLESBOURNE PARK OPEN DAYS 2007 Easter Monday 9 April, Arboretum Weekend 15-16 September Gates open 1pm, last entry 4 pm website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Gutierrez" <norwesgard@earthlink.net> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 7:06 PM Subject: [pbs] montbretia - plus a question > > Question: I recently bought a plant called Urginia macrocentra and > can't find any information on it. The leaves are round and hollow > like a reed (pointed at the tip) and about two feet tall. The tag > says it has a white flower in late summer, gets 3 ft. tall and is > hardy to zone 9(?). The foliage is very dramatic...I'm curious about > the flower and where I should site this plant. >