It's been hot here in New England too, and I keep many of my potted bulbs on a gravel walk which receives full sun from early in the morning, until 4:00 in the afternoon when the house shades it. First, I have dilemma, I can't identify a Nerine species which is finally going to bloom: It is here: (The grassy foliage image) I thought at first that it was N. masoniorum, but now not sure. The flowers are just opening, and they are about 1" in dia. http://flickr.com/photos/exploraculture/… Also, I need to post image of a mystery bulb too either a Phaedranassa or Stenomesson ( lots of foliage, but not sure what I have - another lost tag), but I know that it is one or the other. In bloom now in pots is a Nerine falcata, , two young Agapanthus inapertus, which I believe were tissue cultured ; one the true species A. inapertus ssp inapertus, and one named cross. These are the first buds ever, and I was surprised to see them come in the fall, is this normal? Both plants are immature. My Nerine sariniensis are still under glass, and not showing buds just yet. I may put some out to get rain from the Hurricane this weekend. A few Cyclamen graecum and C. hederifolium are in bloom already, so I moved the pots outside. The rest of the collection is still dormant on a sand bed in the greenhouse. I repotted two very large Brunsvigia josephinae and a very large B. bosmaniae into upgraded pots this weekend, the bulbs are so large that I felt that they needed 30 inch pots. For soil, I used garden clay and gravel, which I did not sterilize, mixed with large perlite and 50% sand ( just experimenting, and garden loam which was sterilized is what I normally use, with sand). The large pots were moved onto the gravel bed to see if the heat and expected rain and cool weather might help bring them into bloom. I topped off each pot with 4 inches of large granite gravel, and the bulb noses are exposed. Yes, I will break my back come October, but I really want these to bloom. Lastly, a pot of Allium callimischon which I rather stupidly thought had dried stems from last spring, are now starting to show flowers from the dried stems. After seeing John Lonsdale's photos on the PBS Wiki, I now feel silly, since I read that this species forms these flowering stems just before going into dormancy, and then they bloom in the autumn. I just don't remember them two years ago when this pot bloomed. I think this is fascinating, and now I want to fill the pot with bulbs, to achieve a more attractive display. Matt Mattus Worcester, MA USA Zone 5 http://www.growingwithplants.com/ On 8/31/10 12:39 PM, "J.E. Shields" <jshields104@comcast.net> wrote: > Nothing is in bloom in the hot, dry ground! Potted bulbs on the deck have > at least a couple things blooming: > > Nerine hessioides has tiny pink flowers maybe 1/2 inch across. They are > very reminiscent of N. gracilis, but the peduncles are only about 10 inches > high, so the plant is a little more in proportion to its flowers. Gracilis > has much taller scapes. I got rid of my N. gracilis years ago. > > Nerine filamentosa is starting to bloom, with one pot in flower an another > in bud. > ____________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/