Acis autumnalis is not in flower here yet, but the foliage is still green in a well-watered spot. Cyclamen hederifolium is beginning to flower, however, at least a month early. I wondered if the latter might have responded to a temperature drop from the terrible highs of late June in the Pacific Northwest. Most of the cyclamen, however, are growing in shaded places with a fairly deep surface cover of conifer debris, where they may not have heated up much. Lee mentioned Antarctic cold air affecting the Southern Hemisphere. I don't suppose it will bring moisture, however, as that is mainly driven by sea temperature, at least on the west coasts of the continents and on islands. The western USA continues very hot -- normal in some places, of course -- and terribly dry. Here in western Oregon the air quality is still good, but yesterday I noticed a lot of smoke in front of our neighboring major peak, Mt. Hood. Traveling back down from a NARGS get-together at Terry Laskiewicz's wonderful garden, we noticed a lot of heat damage on native conifers, but curiously little on native deciduous trees. Among bulbs, lilies had lost their buds in several gardens. However, later-emerging scapes on Eucomis and Galtonia look fine here, and Brodiaea californica has been flowering bravely through everything and is even prettier than usual, because it shows a deeper color than normal, almost violet. I don't think summer is over; it had better not be, because the tomatoes are still green. Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>