Fall 2009 is turning out to be unusually rainy and dull, and the flowers of many autumn crocus exposed to the weather turned to mush before they bloomed. But there are a few bright spots. In the protected cold frame Narcissus albidus foliosus is blooming now and is cheering my up nicely. The first snowdrops and already come and gone. I notice that I have another somewhat similar Narcissus under the name Narcissus cantabricus foliosus. The two are sometimes said to be distinguished by the extent to which the style does or does not project beyond the corona (cup) of the flower. Oddly (to me anyway) the rules of nomenclature do not prohibit the use of the same word below the rank species more than once within the same genus. The rules recommend against this practice, but evidently do not prohibit it. Several other hoop-petticoat daffodils are in advanced bud, and perhaps some will bloom before the end of the year. The big excitement here this winter is a trial of some of the Chilean Tropaeolum. These were planted in the autumn of 2008; none sprouted the first year. I checked the corms a few months ago, and all seemed well. But this year only one has sprouted, and it is quickly making a tangle of growth. I’m so tempted to check what’s going on underground with the other two, but for now I’ll be patient. Bulb fly nearly exterminated my stock of Sternbergia greuteriana two years ago. I’m happy to see that the surviving bits are putting up good if small growth. Iridaceous foliage of some sort is appearing here and there in the protected cold frame; most of these are single sprouts, but there are also a few clumps. I have a hunch that these represent the first stage in the infestation of my cold frame by Freesia viridis. The cold frame isn’t used just for bulbs. Rosemary isn’t reliably hardy here, so I keep one in the cold frame. Throughout the winter it gets cropped for various culinary uses. And since there is not room in the frame for a full sized rosemary, it gets cropped severely. This week I used some of it to make rosemary-walnut biscotti: yummy! Last week the weather people were predicting the imminent arrival of horrific weather conditions – severe wind and temperatures plunging well below freezing. I went to bed expecting the worst – but not before stumbling around in the dark trying to protect a few more plants. The next morning when I got up at 6:30 A.M. the first thing I did was to check the outside thermometer. Still waking up, I was momentarily confused to read 40 degrees F. I opened a door, and sure enough, the air was, compared to what I was expecting, balmy. The weather front never came through: we’ve escaped for another week or so. I know that the Mid-West got battered last week, but that’s usual in that area. But my thoughts all week have been with those of you in the West Coast: the Internet is full of postings relating to the awful weather out there – and not just on garden-related sites. Thirty years ago we here in the Middle Atlantic States experienced a winter we old timers will never forget: that winter took almost every big, blooming camellia down to the ground, and most never recovered. Now decades later there are again big camellias flourishing out in the open. In fact, local gardens are stuffed with nominally zone 8 plants. I can’t look at them without thinking that they are tempting the malicious weather gods. Sooner or later it will happen again. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 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/