Rodger Whitlock wrote,Perhaps it is worthwhile recounting the system that Molly Grothaus >used to grow her Frit collection in -- was it Lake Oswego, Oregon? -- >somewhere in the Portland area. >Molly (Mollie?) grew her frits in upended pottery flue tiles, which >her husband, a building contractor, could buy fairly reasonably in >quantity. Each species went into its own tile. The tiles were >arranged in an elongated block (memory is uncertain here) of which >one end was shaded by a tree in the garden. I was well acquainted with Molly Grothaus, who died about 4 years ago. The flue tiles were set on a gentle slope in a stepped arrangement. She did not have so many frits in them but did have a lot of species tulips. She covered the square flues with squares of roofing material to keep them dry in summer. I remember her having more frits in pots than in the ground and in fact was inspired to explore the genus by seeing a wonderful pot of F. raddeana that she brought to our NARGS chapter meeting in the late 1980s. I have many plants here that I owe to Molly's generosity. She was a brilliant and scholarly gardener. I tried to get some "seconds" from a manufacturing company producing flue tiles, but I was told they were not legally allowed to sell them for fear that someone would install them in a chimney and burn the house down. The good ones are quite expensive. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA