Tony Avent asked: "G. murielae is marginal here and we will loose it in a cold (below 10 degrees F) winter. Do you have any idea where in the range the material in the trade came from? Low or high elevations? I've often wondered if there couldn't be material found with better winter hardiness." I don't know the answers to Tony's questions, but they remind me of something I read recently. Somewhere recently I read that what we now call Galdiolus murielae was introduced by a major bulb company in 1928. That does not sit well with me, although part of the answer may have to do with just what you consider G. murielae to be. Already in the nineteenth century the plant then known as Acidanthera bicolor was in cultivation, and for most of my life the commercial material has been called Acidanthera bicolor murielae. There is another sort of evidence that there have been multiple introductions. Most older books, in discussing these plants, mention that they are very late blooming. Is that because writers were simply repeating the experience reported by growers in comparatively cooler northwestern Europe? Or is it because so many of the early American books were based on experience on New England, where the summers are shorter? I've often wondered if the introduction and eventual popularity of stocks under the name murielae was occasioned by an earlier bloom time. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/