<x-flowed> From time to time I write memorial notes on members of the NARGS who have died, leaving not only good memories among their friends but also the plants they have generously shared. Bulbs are prominent among these for me. I was inspired to grow bulbs from seed in the late 1980s by the late Molly Grothaus, who brought to a NARGS chapter meeting a spectacular pot of Fritillaria raddeana which she had grown from seed. Later in the summer Molly gave me seeds from those plants, which I grew. I still have the original seedlings, now very large bulbs, and have raised several generations from them, even though my plants set little seed (Molly grew hers in an alpine house, where they were warmer and set seed more readily). She also gave me a start of Colchicum kesselringii that I still have. Floyd McMullen is known widely for his discovery of Erythronium elegans and for an excellent dwarf form of Penstemon davidsonii that bears his name. At one NARGS meeting where we had a fund-raising auction, he brought in a 2-gallon pot of Cyclamen hederifolium from his garden, where for decades he had selected and grown on unusual leaf forms of this popular species. I bought it for about $10, and when I turned it out there must have been 40 corms in it of all sizes. These were the origin of the many plants I now have in the garden -- one of the most permanent and useful "bulbs" for this climate. Many of them have long, narrow leaves. Like Diana, I enjoy growing bulbs that remind me of places I have traveled. Sometimes these are simple, common plants but memory enhances them. There is a wonderful population of Alstroemeria aurea on the open hillsides above the Termas de Chillan in the central Chilean Andes, displaying a fine range of rich colors. I did not get seed from it on either visit I made there, but the Archibalds came a month later and collected seed and offered it. The resulting plants are infesting one end of a bulb frame in a furious manner, but I have managed to move most of them out into the garden on a warm slope, where they flower nicely and entertain the hummingbirds. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php </x-flowed>