A year or two ago I described the problems I was having with Chasmanthe floribunda in my zone 7 garden. To make a long story short, it grew but did not bloom. Back then I was storing them dry inside during the winter and planting them out for the summer. At that time various suggestions were made. One was that it perhaps needed more heat. That suggestion I'm sure was made by someone who has never had the dubious pleasure of enduring summer in Maryland. My own thoughts leaned the other way: perhaps it needed a cool/cold period. With that in mind, I planted the corms outside in a protected spot where they could remain permanently - or die. Last year they came out of the ground too early and were severely cut by cold. This year, they are now just emerging. I'll protect them if necessary, but I'm getting the impression that little by little they are adapting to our local conditions. I'll let you know when they bloom (next year?). Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where slugs have discovered the emerging fritillaries and crinums are pushing up new growth. 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/