Hi, all, I've been interested in bulbs for a long time, and have a lot in the yard and in pots. South Africans are a special interest --an outgrowth, I guess, of a long-standing interest in cacti and succulents (many of the most delectible succulents are SA genera.) Other plant interests: begonias, gesneriads, seed raising, aroids, etc., etc. I belong to a ridiculous number of plant societies--to get their publications, mostly. I'm on the board of the Cactus & Succulent Society of America and operate the CSSA Seed Depot, the seed distribution program. I also serve as the North American rep for several specialty societies based in the U.K.: Int'l Sansevieria Society, Int'l Asclepiad Society, Sedum Society, and Euphorbiaceae Study Group. I'm active in two local clubs and write the monthly newsletters for each. (In fact, Saturday I went back through the 18 years of the cactus club newsletter--just to make sure I was not writing about the same plants time and again. No, I wasn't. But I was surprised to discover that the genus I had written about most was--Opuntia! Never would have guessed.) Clovis is in the central San Joaquin Valley of California, with very hot, arid summers and fairly mild, wet winters. Parts of my yard could very easily be kept completely dry all summer for those bulbs that need it. Well, enough for now. Sue