It may help growers on the Pacific Coast, like Mary Sue Ittner, to suggest that Tropaeolum azureum can probably grow in the same conditions favored by Fritillaria recurva, and Tropaeolum incisum in the conditions favored by deciduous Lewisia species in the Pacific mountain ranges. Regarding drying out the tubers - I'm sure Alberto is right that they can, in general not tolerate desiccation. However, I once put a tuber of T. brachyceras in a little plastic sample bag to send someone, left it on my correspondence desk, and somehow shuffled it back into the filing slot. It stayed there for a year and a half. When I found it, I planted it, and it grew very well, producing flowers after its long dormancy. Jane McGary Northwest Oregon