Things have quieted down in my protected cold frame. Many plants have already gone yellow and died down for the season: early Fritillaria are down, most Crocus are down, the Nerine are down, the south African Oxalis are down, some Colchicum are down, various aroids are down. But there are still patches if interest. Gladiolus dubius is starting to bloom; this shows a surprisingly bright color, much more nearly red than the plant I have grown for years as G. byzantinus. Dichelostemma capitatum is almost finished blooming - there is a bit of blue left but most flowers have gone over to the brown paper stage. D. multiflorum on the other hand has not yet started to bloom. This did not bloom last year, but this year it has produced a bouquet of well budded scapes. D. volubile is also in bloom now. Last year this one got tangled up in some nearby vines; it ended up a mess. This year I provided a stake for it. Narcissus bulbocodium graelsii tall form has provided a real surprise. It first bloomed a few weeks ago; when the first flower faded, it thought that was it. But eventually a second scape appeared and flowered. This I dismissed as an anomaly. Today a third scape is in bloom. Is there another Narcissus which produces flowers sequentially? Muscari argaei album is now starting to bloom. So too is Muscari dionysicum. Bellevalia pycnantha bloomed very handsomely this year; by now it is mostly over. B. longipes is now fully developed and looking very bizarre. While web surfing the other day I ran across an image of B. trifoliata: this looks very interesting and colorful. I have a plant under that label in the bulb frame, but my plant has not yet bloomed. Allium haematochiton is blooming, and the big melanocrymnium Allium are starting to flower. Brodiaea terrestris and Calochortus tolmiei are blooming. The regiliocyclus Iris 'Thor' is blooming today: and yes, I'm thunderstruck. This one favors the onco side of the family, with a pattern of dark purple black veining on white (the falls) or violet (the standards). The falls have a nice onco-like black signal patch. Iris hoogiana is also blooming. And I've saved what for me is the best for last: the Jamestown Lily (aka Atamasco Lily) is opening a nice big flower as I type, just in time to honor the 400th anniversary celebrations of Jamestown, Virginia. Or perhaps it is blooming in honor of the visit of Elizabeth II. Have I mentioned the tree peonies, the dogwood, the wisteria, the Davidia, the Aesculus pavia, the azaleas, the early honeysuckles, the columbines and phlox... My cup gusheth over. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where a new plant of Ruscus hypoglossum has joined the collection, and I'll be off in a bit for a morning of developing warbler neck. 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/