They are in the coldest part of the garden that > gets very little sun until it is high in the sky in mid-spring. After > 3 or 4 years in the garden, this year they are doing something odd. > Or is it? > The critical size for flowering hyacinths (and some Iriids) can be shifted to smaller bulbs by increasing temperature/extending the period of exposure. Then, sometimes, they die. Or, the apical meristem was damaged down to the basal plate via physical or biologic means. I sometimes drill out Lachenaliia for propagation that way. Mark Mazer Hertford, North Carolina USA Zone 8a