Dear Friends, On 11/22/08 the BX offered three species of Oxalis from Alberto Castillo. There was a discussions right after that about how to treat these winter growers and when they'd grow and bloom. I planted mine immediately on arrival. It was suggested they should be up in a month or two. On March 12 I reported: O. gracilis has been up for around a month - Early Dec planting to Early February (2 months) O. purpurea took another 2 weeks (2 1/2 months) O. comressa is just showing the first sign of life at just over 3 months. At this stage The earliest corms of O. gracilis are fully expanded and in good growth, while O. purpurea are still looking "in development". Now Early in May ( almost 5 months after planting), all three have begun to flower and I can report again. O gracilis was the first to flower, but flowers are a bright pink, not the tangerine/ orange shown on the wiki. Alberto does not indicate that this is a color variant so I wonder about the ID. The foliage is reminiscent of O. versicolor http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… O. purpurea 'Garent' has lovely dark foliage and large rich pink flowers. Typical shamrock foliage in purple. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Both of these have quite similar looking flowers, but 'Garnet' is a good size larger than O. gracilis Today is the first flower on O. compressa, double form and the flowers are exactly as Alberto describes. A VERY un-oxalis-looking flower. Each flower stem can have up to 10 buds and there are multiple stems per plant. Looks like a real winner. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… And more recently Mary Sue supplied some Oxalis magnifica to the BX just a month ago. These started growing immediately and the first bloom is open today. Mary Sue was unsure of ID, but a web search suggests she is correct about ID. Honestly the flowers are not much (plain pink, "oxalis' flowers, but hard to judge from just one flower), but the foliage is very nice. Each leaf is large , with multiple segments and very exotic looking. So far, it looks great and flowers are a bonus. Anyone else have any report yet ? Thanks to Dell, Alberto and Mary Sue. Alberto's description: 18. Oxalis gracilis (W). This is a shortish form, compact, and extremely floriferous, we have it in flower for four months or more in winter. Full sun and gritty soil. 19. Oxalis purpurea 'Garnet' (W). This is the deepest purplish form of this species, spectacular. Full sun and gritty soil. Recently mentioned in the PBS forum as one of the most striking of all. 20. Oxalis compressa, double form (W). Apparently this form is unknown in the States. Flowers are very double, yellow with faint terracotta back to the petals, on tall stems. The foliage is compact, ground hugging and attractive. Some forms have a black center that makes them very striking. Most plants produce plain green leaves as the character of black center is recessive, but of course, from offsets they prove true to the variety. Both forms are here, in mix. Mary Sue's description: 11. Oxalis sp. L 96/42 is summer growing Oxalis originally from Uli and collected in Oxaca, Mexico. Suggested species were Oxalis magnifica or O. nelsonii, but I have no confirmation of these identities. This species is dormant for me in winter and blooms for a long time in summer with large pink flowers. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Best and thanks Alberto and Dell Jim W. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +