Jane wrote: >> I would welcome input from any of you who have grown these bulbs in California, especially the southern part I tried very hard to grow a number of Fritillaria species, back when seeds were easily available from the Robinetts and Northwest Native Seed. The result was almost 100% failure. I could get some of them to sprout (others not), but they dwindled over a couple of years, and I rarely even got any flowers. In particular, I tried various selections of F. glauca and F. recurva over and over, with variations in soil mix and stratification. Plus a number of other species, usually concentrating on the ones with the most unusual colors. My experience was in contrast to many Calochortus, Allium, Bloomeria, Brodiaea, which were easy to grow and maintain. I did get F. pluriflora to grow and bloom for several years, in a pot filled with heavy clay soil. It was a pretty little thing. But eventually it faded out as well. My guess is that my usual cultural practices (8-inch plastic pots, no water from dormancy until October) let the bulbs dry out too much. But again, this was okay for other California bulbs, so who knows. I will be interested to hear what other growers say, especially folks from even drier/hotter climates than me. Dr. Koopowitz, if you would care to give some info on your cultural practices, I'm all ears. Mike San Jose, CA (zone 9, min temp 20F)