Hi Jim, It may take a year or two for my Super Ellen to get to blooming size, but I am definitely excited about its potential. Are there other hybrids/species you have found to be very cold tolerant in your experience that I should be looking for? No one up here is growing crinums, at least that I know of. Ernie Briarcliff Manor NY Z7ish/6 ---- Dear Ernie and all, Crinum x powellii album is far superior from typical x powellii. Very hardy here and reliable even in drought years. Takes a few years to settle in. I really have to put in a HUGE plug for 'Super Ellen’. The old ‘Ellen Bousanquet’ is not hardy here at all. A couple years and then a cold winter gets it. I’ve had 'Super Ellen' for a number of years .Now the flower stalks are at eye height ( 6 ft + or -), huge richly colored flowers and long lasting. At one time this season I had a dozen stalks in the clump in bloom all at once. WOW. Came through cold and heat equally well, but give it a lot of room. Leaves splay out 6 or more feet in each directionamd huge flower stalks. I LOVE IT and heartily recommend it. Give it some room and time- some extra water now and then and fertilizer and you will hopefully be thrilled too. Hard to believe this is a totally hardy perennial here in Kansas City on the prairie. Jim W. > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/