Thanks, Fierycloud, for providing those links. The abstracts in the links have answered at least one question for me, and have given me reason to be very curious about the performance of my Nerine this year. One of the abstracts points out the flower bud initiation in Nerine starts the growing season before bloom. That explains why newly purchased bulbs of Nerine sometimes bloom: the flower bud was there when the bulb was bought. I'll bet this also accounts for most of the sporadic bloom of Amaryllis belladonna recorded in eastern North America. With respect to the culture of Nerine bowdenii, I wonder how many of you have read Ian Young's account of the performance of Nerine bowdenii in the gardens of Aberdeen, Scotland. Evidently it sometimes gets just as cold in Aberdeen in the winter as it does here in Maryland. Yet Young tells us that thousands of Nerine bowdenii bloom annually in gardens (not in greenhouses or alpine houses, in the open garden) in Aberdeen. That should tell us something about the requirements of that plant. Last year, after reading Young's account, I left a pot of Nerine bowdenii in a cold frame (remember, cold frame means unheated) for the winter. The plastic pot had so many bulbs that the side had split. The pot stood on the dirt floor of the frame: it was not sunk into the ground or in any way protected. This cold frame is cold: it gets little sun during the winter. The plants came through the winter without any signs of distress. Will they bloom this year or will it take another cold cycle to induce bloom? At least I now know that they are a lot hardier to cold than I had suspected. I had tried this species in the open ground in the past, but they eventually disappeared without blooming. In another cold frame, this one better sited with respect to sun exposure (i.e. it gets lots of sun during the winter) there are three selections of Nerine sarniensis. These grew vigorously and came through the winter with absolutely no sign of foliage damage. They got water for the first time since late May last week. After the watering, the bulbs plumped up quickly. Again, will they bloom this year or will it take another cold cycle to induce bloom? So far, there is little sign of growth in response to the watering, but that was only last week. In this same frame there is a bulb of Amaryllis belladonna which is hard as a rock. I'll keep you posted on what if anything happens during the next month or two. Matt Mattus in a posting to Alpine-L today mentioned that his Nerine (greenhouse grown) are starting to bloom in the Boston area. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where overnight temperatures in the 40s F are predicted for tonight. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/