I get I should 'out' myself, since I just answered an inquiry and many of you may not know me. Here is a bio I recently sent for a slide presentation to a rock garden group in Vancouver: Interest in the natural world has always been a part of my life, mostly desert animal life, growing up in San Diego, California. Working at a Santa Barbara County Park solidified my interest in plants, after graduation from college in 1970 with a BA in Philosophy. After moving to Eugene, Oregon in 1973, I planted trees, logged and did various odd jobs before Marietta and I met, were married, and started landscaping. We eventually began to grow many of the plants that we were interested in using on jobs and had excess, of course, and one thing led to another-the nursery was born in 1992, first open only by appointment, then one day a week, now three days a week, where it will stay. We specialize in herbaceous perennials for sun and shade and do some alpines and shrubs. We both are confessed plantaholics and are totally captivated by the wonder and beauty of the natural world. At the nursery we specialize in the rare and unusual and have a breeding program for hybrid hellebores. Increasing the color range and improving the form of double hellebores is a current interest. In our garden, we are very eclectic, growing a wide variety of plants in various microclimates, many from expeditions and various seed exchanges from around the world. The garden and nursery are about an acre and a half with woodland gardens, a grass and conifer garden, rock garden areas, perennial borders, a dryland garden (no water in summer) and a small pond. Some particular interests are hellebores, arisaemas, podophyllums and conifers. Both Marietta and I are self-taught, never having had formal training in horticulture. We are lucky in having very similar taste and ideas about the development of the garden and usually agree with each other in garden decisions. We both like to weed and both reject the frantic pace of modern life, especially TV (which we have never owned) and its negative impact on our culture. We see gardening as a small step in restoring sanity to a troubled planet. ______________________________________________ So, sort of long winded, but at least you get an idea of who I am. Re bulbs we are pretty eclectic, but not terribly knowledgeable and don't grow many non-hardy bulbs in pots or under cover of any kind (except for the Oxalis that I recently couldn't resist from the BX ;-) I am a real sucker for Oxalis and Diana grows 250 taxa! I didn't even know that that many were available out there. Ernie O'Byrne Northwest Garden Nursery 86813 Central Road Eugene OR 97402-9284 USA Phone: 541 935-3915 FAX: 541 935-0863 Eugene, Oregon is USDA Zone 8a on the map, but we can only grow Zone 7 plants reliably. Member of NARGS, SRGC, RHS, American Primula Society, Meconopsis Group, Alpine-L, Arisaema-L, Hellebore Group