Diana Chapman and Georgie Robinett wrote about sharp differences in microclimates in locations close together on the Pacific coast near Eureka, California. I see now that it is probably drier at my place in summer than right in Eureka, where Diana's nursery was formerly situated. Her present spot sounds much more conducive to good bulb growth--although as anyone who bought bulbs from Telos knows, she was doing just fine before. I am about 30 miles southeast of Portland, Oregon, and have average annual rainfall of 45 inches, compared with Portland's 32 inches. However, my place is windier than most parts of Portland, which is very good for most plants. During my recent trip to northern Chile I saw even more vivid evidence of this kind of coastal-fog microclimates. In the Atacama Desert region, you can plot the extent of the coastal fog by the extent of vegetation -- in some parts, there is literally nothing growing (except on the roadside, where seeds drop from trucks) east of the fog boundary. When you catch yourself thinking, "There's a cactus, it must be moist here," you know you're in a DESERT. The fog rolls east through the canyons just as it does on North America's Pacific Coast, and there were clear "vegetation bands" in the coast range. Certain geophytes (e.g., Alstroemeria kingii, Leucocoryne narcissoides) grew only in or beside dry streambeds, where there was probably extra moisture below the surface. I was also surprised at the number of plants growing very close to the high tide line, including several Alstroemeria species -- a more interesting flora that I'm used to seeing on the North American Pacific coast, and surely many good salt-tolerant candidates for seashore gardens. Jane McGary Northwest Oregon