Hi Luc and all, As you might suppose from the authorship of that paper, Dave Lehmiller is the expert on Sprekelia howardii. Dave is a member of the IBS Members group on Yahoo. My bulbs came from a very small batch of seeds that Dave gave me several years ago. Last summer, a few of Dave's seeds were distributed by the IBS SX through the IBS Members list. We hope to have more seeds of this species next season. I have one lone bulb that blooms (out of several bulbs I have growing). I hope to at least trade pollen with Dough Westfall next summer. The plant appears to need a perfectly dry winter rest -- it is no Mediterranean plant. It also resents being disturbed, according to Dr. Lehmiller. We grow it in pots and try not to repot it unless absolutely necessary. I grow it in a 5-inch (ca. 12.5 cm) square pot about 5 to 6 inches deep, in a very gritty mix, one bulb to a pot. The pots sit outdoors in full sun from mid-May until mid-September, where they get such rain as may fall here (average 3 inches per month). In dry periods, I may water them occasionally. I fertilize perhaps once a summer, using a completely soluble balanced (20-10-20) plant food with micronutrients. In winter they sit on a table in the cool greenhouse, where temperatures can drop into the mid-30s (°F), so let's say down to about +02°C at the lowest. They are never watered while inside the greenhouse. As I mentioned, one bulb of my small group has bloomed twice, one flower per year. One other bulb produced one offset, which I have already committed to someone else. I am seriously interested in producing seeds of this species and distributing them, either through PBS and this group or through the International Bulb Society's IBS Members group, or through both. Maybe next summer..... Best wishes, Jim Shields in central Indiana (USA) At 05:14 PM 2/16/2008 -0500, you wrote: >Hi all, Among the species I wish to test in a near future is Sprekelia >formosissima, but my question rather concerns Sprekelia howardii. I have >seen on the Pbs website, that Doug Westfall cultivate this rare one in >California. I was wondering if Doug is a member of the list as well and if >he can give us some advice about its cultivation. Anyonelse has experience >with this plant ? Were can I purchase bulbs of it ? Moeover what are the >current taxonomic status of Sprekelia glauca and S. clintae (synonyms ?). >Is the species in cultivation somewhere ? Thanks in advance again for your >help, PS. I am also looking for a copy (or photocopy) of the following >paper - Lehmiller  D. J. 1999. A New Species of Sprekelia >(Amaryllidaceae). Herbertia, 54, pp. 228-231......... ************************************************* 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