Hi, Members. I doubt that it is really what Mary Sue had in mind for the TOW, but there is something I sometimes use which for my own convenience I call "marker bulbs". Suppose there is a plant which comes up late, dies down early, or otherwise is often "out of sight, out of mind" where you would otherwise try to plant something else, hoe the area, or just step in the spot and break the emerging stem. Plant something which is visible when the more desireable plant is underground. Crocus is one choice, but in this garden I am blessed with bushy tailed tree rats (aka squirrels) which love to dig up and eat crocus, and in the process damage other things. I don't really like bulb cages-they do rust out, are a nuisance to dig up to divide the bulbs inside, and you never have them when you need them. Then for a while I tried onions-egyptian top set onions, which are always readily available, and which nothing seems to bother. (Not even me!) Not pretty, but they work. Then Ixia somehow occured to me. They are weeds here, although flowering weeds-and weeds after all are only plants where they aren't wanted. Ixia come up early in the fall, are visible all winter, flower in April and May here, and are dormant and may be cleared away by now. The Ixia here are hybrids and do not seem to set seed. The disadvantage is that they are very tall--up to three feet in flower, and the colors don't always mingle with whatever else is there. I'm still not sure if they are really hardy here-the last several winters have been relatively mild, but so far they are weeds. They are uncommon enough that this spring the doorbell rang, and when I opened the door, the lady standing there had been walking by, seen them, and wanted to know what they were and where to get some. I'm now ready to try some Ixia species which I hope will be shorter, possibly earlier (maybe fragrant?), and in different colors. I've also been debating mixing some Ixia with Dierama, similiar flower shapes and plants, but am unsure if growing the slow growing and hard to transplant Dierama with weedy Ixia is a good idea. If anyone has tried it let me know. I've mentioned Alstroemeria psittacina and Dichlostemma ida-maia as a bad idea, although the Alstroemeria can be pulled out when the shoots are small. I've considered other "marker bulbs" but so far these are ones I've used. They need to appear early, not be so massive or invasive they harm what they mark, need to be reasonably cheap, and available when needed. The reason for using "marker bulbs" instead of say, Dianthus, is that plants like Dianthus serve to harbor slugs, which will ruin the growing tips of (for instance) lilies, just as they come through the ground. Bulbs like Ixia do not provide the cover for slugs but do serve to remind that there is something growing there. Ken western Oregon Z7