Hello all, My name is Chad Schroter and I garden in Los Gatos California which is a hour south of San Francisco on the inland side of the Santa Cruz Mtns. I have been interested in bulbs nearly all my life, as well as most other plants - perhaps I suffer from Plant Aquisition Syndrome. I have barely enough time to manage my garden along with a family, with a boy almost 3 and two girls 5 and 7. Early on most of my garden reading was UK oriented and only in the last 5 years thanks to the internet have I learned more plants and techniques appropriate to this mediteranean climate. For example I learned the hard way that Large Trumpet Daffodils do not come back here (most of them)I am always looking for "surprises" - the exceptions to the rule plants which are assumed not hardy etc. which will grow here. I had joined this group just before I went on vacation - the old Yahoo Groups one - and so had a lot of catching up to do when I got home :) Chad Schroter