At 09:45 AM 8/1/02 -0700, Jane wrote: >Note to Jim Shields= don't throw your seed pots out so fast! A year is not >enough for many colchicums to germinate. I keep them 3 years. Same with >irises. > >Jane McGary >NW Oregon Hi Jane, I have had iris seeds sprout after the second winter outdoors. In the case of the Colchicum ex 'Antares', I wondered if the seeds would survive our cold, wet winter. I have not done will with the tender Colchicum species in my greenhouse. C. cupanii put up some foliage last autumn, but the others seem to have disappeared (kesselringii and doerfleri). I've clearly not been treating them right. I had good luck with Androcymbium europaeum bulbs, which did quite well in the greenhouse. They bloomed and set plenty of seeds, which I unfortunately did not keep. I just assumed they would never germinate. How hard are the seeds of A. europaeum to germinate? How hardy is A. europaeum outdoors (rock garden, bulb frame?). I don't have a bulb frame, but I do have some coldframes between the house and the greenhouse. Jim Shields in hot, humid central Indiana ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. +1-317-896-3925