Outdoors, many Colchicum are in bloom: cilicicum came first, then byzantinum and now 'The Giant' and bornmuelleri. One lone Crinum bulbispermum has sent up a last-of-the-season rebloom scape. It's quite nice to see at this time of the year. A Scilla whose name I've forgotten has naturalized itself all over one area, and is now showing a mass of pinkish blooms. In the greenhouses, many Haemanthus are still blooming, including coccineus, crispus, and lanceifolius, as well as good old albiflos. Cyclamen graecum, one of the few species of cyclamen that seems to survive my harsh greenhouse conditions in summer, is blooming. Zephyranthes longifolia and Z. minima are blooming as well, They do amazingly well if one waters them occasionally. In the orchard, the Carpathian (hardy English) walnuts are just about finished and the Chinese Chestnuts are just getting started. The question is, did we get the spraying timed right this summer, or are we going to have piles of wormy chestnuts? Even the !@~#$%+?^&*! squirrels won't eat the wormy nuts. Jim S. ************************************************* 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