On 18 Jun 03 at 11:20, John Lonsdale wrote: > > Can anyone please tell me whether seeds which are dispersed from > geophytes which are native to areas which are hot and dry in the > summer (and therefore summer dormant) will get dry in the summer? You may be forgetting that seeds do not necessarily sit on the surface of the soil, but often fall into cracks in the soil where there is shade and slighly higher humidity. Also, compared with seeds in a pot, seeds in the ground experience much more stability in their environment. The unstable environment in your usual plastic pot is one of the strongest arguments for terra cotta pots plunged in a sand bed. > ...what about western erythroniums? Pay attention to their ecology. The most common erythroniums on Vancouver Island are E. revolutum and E. oregonum. Even though I can show you where these species grow within a hundred feet or so of each other, they have quite distinct ecological preferences. E. revolutum enjoys conditions where the soil is moist year round. Along Sutton Creek, many stands are probably flooded during the winter. E. oregonum otoh (on the other hand) enjoys conditions where the soil goes bone dry in summer. It doesn't need baking and will do fine in conditions of fairly deep shade, but it has to have that summer desiccation. In my garden, where summer water is the exception, E. oregonum does better than E. revolutum, but the latter survives and flowers in a reasonable way. Two other species of erythronium grow on southern Vancouver Island: E. montanum and E. grandiflorum. However, both grow at some altitude and the local population of E. grandiflorum is restricted to a steep north face on one low mountain. Neither of these is a success in the garden; the most likely reason for the failure is lack of adequate winter chilling. > Whatever Mother Nature does has to be right, doesn't it? Not necessarily. Seed sown in a pot gives a much higher germination rate than the same seed scattered in the bushes. Fewer critters to eat it, more fertile soil, generally more congenial conditions. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island