> . I think by > "sparkling beauty" Tim means 'Sparkling Burgundy', which is widely > offered, possibly not always the true clone of that name. Yes I meant Sparkling Burgundy, oops . > > > This is one of the best South African genera for growing in colder > climates, because it emerges late in spring and can be protected by > deep planting and plenty of mulch. However, the flowers of E. > autumnalis can be ruined by frost in fall. > These are very adaptable plants as they also thrive in south Louisiana. I originally planted them in a terrible location and they fortunately made it through a few years of not so great conditions. Here the E comosa types and the reddish E autumnalis types sprout first (some are blooming now) followed by E pallidiflora, and later by E zambesiaca and E bicolor (the latter are still not in the best location and this may be why the are always last. Perhaps these normally high elevation diploid spp just don't thrive as well as the lower elevation tetraploid spp do here. Too early to tell. I have three other spp to plant out eventually, and still looking for grimshawii, schijffi, a true montana, and amaryllidifolia. (I don't see it listed as such but E amaryllidifolia has been reinstated to species level by Duncan due to it being a diploid and not an allotetraploid like E autumnalis). Where did you buy the 'Dark Star'? I see 'Freckles' for sale online but hadn't come across Dark Star. Tim Chapman