Jim Shields mentioned checking his Lycoris for seed: here in Maryland I collected seed on L. longituba and L. chinensis on September 30. Crocuses in bloom now include C. longiflorus and C. medius. C. medius is very handsome this year - sometimes it has a stressed, run-down look, but not this year. The first of the Iris unguicularis has started to bloom; this one came from a local garden but without a name. It's blooming here for the first time. The petals show some dark streaking, and that raises suspicions that it might be virus infected. Amaryllis belladonna has lush tufts of foliage up - but no sign of bloom (ever!). This plant has been growing outside, planted in the ground covered by a cold frame since 2005. ×Amarcrinum was in full bloom when we had the first killing frost: the scape collapsed and never recovered. The foliage of this plant was not however seriously damaged. Several gesneriads with a growing reputation for some hardiness lost all foliage during that first killing frost. These include Titanotrichum and several Sinningia. On second thought the Titanotrichum might still have a leaf or two. Colchicum parlatoris, which I received from Jane McGary in 2005, is in full leaf. The foliage is thin and floppy. It grows here in a protected cold frame - I'm not sure how it would do in the open garden. Various little aroids such as Biarum, Ambrosina and Arisarum have tufts of foliage up, and the big Arum are on the verge of eviction due to their lusty growth. Notholirion thomsonianum is in full leaf. Back when we were having the discussion of what at first was thought to be Crocus hadriaticus, Jane McGary commented on its good behavior in her garden. Would that it were so here: every accession of this species I have ever had has disappeared within three or four years. I had several sorts for a few years growing in pots in a cold frame; but as soon as these were planted out in bulb beds exposed to the weather they disappeared. My conclusion: they are very fussy about summer moisture in our climate. 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/ <http://www.jimmckenney.com/> BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ <http://www.pvcnargs.org/> Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/ <http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/> ________________________________ From: J.E. Shields <jshields@indy.net> To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 4:19 PM Subject: [pbs] Weather and What's in Bloom this Week -- Nov 7 I just noticed the first few flakes of snow of this season drifting down outdoors. We have not yet had a killing frost this fall, and the snow is not going to stick, even if it amounts to more than a few random flakes. But still, I'm really not psychologically ready for snow yet this winter! Flowering is very thin in the greenhouses just now. I noticed a scape on Clivia robusta "Maxima" yesterday, and the flowers on last week's Nerine sarniensis hybrids have not yet faded. Haemanthus albiflos still has a few umbels in bloom as well. There are a couple blooms on Caliphruria korsakoffii and Cryptostephanus vansonii as well. Outdoors the other day, I saw a few flowers of Crocus cartwrightianus in bloom as well. I had feared they were going to skip blooming this year. I need to check the Lycrois and see if there are any ripe seeds on chinensis or longituba, if the sun comes out. Jim ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Lat. 40° 02.8' N, Long. 086° 06.6' W