Brodiaea elegans (grown from seeds collected in northern California) does very well here in northwestern Oregon, in the open garden in well-drained locations. As Mary Sue wrote, it isn't quite the last themid (Themidaceae) to flower; Brodiaea californica is a little behind it. B. elegans is more vigorous here than Brodiaea coronaria, which flowers at the same time. My "cheap" rock garden -- easily grown plants on a steep bank near the road -- is dotted with various themids at this season. Their tall scapes emerge among or even through the other plants for a naturalistic scene. Visible now are Brodiaea elegans, Triteleia laxa, Dichelostemma ida-maia, Dichelostemma multiflorum, Triteleia peduncularis, and Bloomeria crocea. Above the rock garden, Dichelostemma volubile is twining up through Cercis occidentalis (California redbud). Elsewhere in the garden the hybrid Dichelostemma 'Pink Diamond' (presumably D. ida-maia x volubile) is in flower. Triteleia laxa 'Rudy' with strongly striped tepals adorns a raised bed. Regarding flowering times for different populations, I notice that Triteleia laxa "Giant Form" from seeds I collected in Mariposa County, California, flowers much earlier than other forms of T. laxa here. Indeed it's hard to understand why the former is in T. laxa at all; I certainly didn't know what I was seeing in the wild, despite being familiar with typical T. laxa since childhood. To grow these plants in a more conventional garden setting where a naturalistic appearance is not desired, one should plant them in close groups. Some will increase to present a dense floral effect, and B. elegans is one that will, but many of them seem disinclined to produce a number of flowering stems from their offset corms. An interesting thing about the taller themids is that the scape can become detached from the corm even before flowering is finished, and the flowers and seeds can continue to mature normally, apparently utilizing just the moisture in the long, thick scape. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA