It was a very pleasant surprise to find flowering outdoors in USDA zone 5b, just northwest of Chicago, Illinois, a Scilla natalensis (Merwilla plumbea) grown from seed obtained through the PBS seed exchange 10 years ago. For years I coddled the Scilla in containers indoors in anticipation of spikes with dozens of flowers; then a post came through PBS that mentioned that they never bloomed in containers. Uggh, 7 years of misspent effort. Given that my collection of non-hardy plants had exceeded the available space in our home, the Scilla and a number of other 'probably not hardy' bulbs were planted in a south facing flower bed that receives reflected heat from the aluminum siding. It is a good foot away from the house foundation in an area where Canna freeze out. I kept 1 container indoors - and indeed it still has not flowered. For those not familiar with the Chicago winter of 2008-2009, we spent most of the winter with temperatures well below freezing and dipped for almost a week into temperatures in the -10 to -16 degree F range. Not hot enough for hallucinations yet; am I just lucky or have others had it survive outdoors in continental climates? Boyce Tankersley Director of Living Plant Documentation Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 60022 tel: 847-835-6841 fax: 847-835-1635 email: btankers@chicagobotanic.org