Jim Waddick wrote, Can you make any hardiness guess of things such as A. patagonica or A. pygmaea? OR actually any of the other species suited to sand or extremely good drainage and Zone 5/6? Answer: I really can't guess, because the climate in the Midwest is so far out of my experience. I grow a couple outdoors but obviously the winters are warmer here and the summers much drier and cooler. A. patagonica might survive, because I think it gets a sprinkle of rain now and then while dormant. I have not grown A. pygmaea, which is also from Patagonia. A. exserens survives in the open garden here, and it is alpine. My best advice would be to try them all! That's what I do! Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon