I recently bought a number of Crocosmia selections from Far Reaches Farm, the nursery Diane Whitehead mentioned. They all look healthy but I'll keep a close eye on them for signs of virus, following Alberto's advice. In my former garden the only cultivar that survived was 'Lucifer', but now that I'm in a warmer place I'll try more. I have them in my just--installed cutting garden, up above the winter "soggy" line. I must get some 'Lucifer' from the old garden this fall. It is the site of wars there among the hummingbirds. I just saw the first hummingbird in this new garden this morning, feeding on the flowers of Eccremocarpus scaber,. a Chilean climber. I'm not sure if it has a tuberous storage root, but it's not nearly as tender as British books will tell you: plants set out in October survived, green, through a colder than average winter and have now climbed up to the gutters of the bulb house -- well over 2 meters -- and are decorating it with their tubular scarlet flowers. It is very easy to grow from seed; in fact, I think the plants here were self-sown into pots in the solarium. Many people in this area put out hummingbird feeders, but I think it's much better to grow flowers for them to feed on, so they'll get better nutrition and be less exposed to disease. Among bulbs, they especially love Dichelostemma ida-maia, which is an open garden plant for us. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA