On 10 Aug 04 at 10:38, John Ingram wrote: > I am placing fall orders for OH... Please don't abbreviate like that. This list is distributed internationally and not all subscribers may understand that OH=Ohio. In this instance, clarity is especially important as your .sig says Los Angeles. (Hopefully everyone worldwide will understand LA=Los Angeles, but I wouldn't put any money on it.) End of finger-shaking. > ... and wanted to include more early blooming bulbs. I have always > loved seeing Aconite but have never planted any. Does anyone on this > list in the appropriate areas have any suggestions? I will be > ordering from Brent and Becky's so my choices are E. cilicia and > hyemalis. The tubers of E. cilicia take drying out better than those of E. hyemalis, hence the former is offered much more frequently than the latter. OTOH (on the other hand), it's my impression that E. cilicia demands a soil containing reasonable amounts of calcium, whereas E. hyemalis has no such requirement, though it doesn't seem to object to lime. Also, E. cilicia can handle a great deal more sun than can E. hyemalis; the latter behaves much like a woodland plant in my garden. I've had very poor luck with E. cilicia. The best it ever did for me was when potted with 50% marble chips in the mix and given a warm dry summer -- not a tulip-like baking, but fairly warm. That kind of treatment would probably kill E. hyemalis, which thrives here in light shade under trees, mixed in with Cyclamen repandum, C. coum, and C. libanoticum. See if you can find a copy of Elizabeth Lawrence's "The Small Bulbs" (I think that's the right title). She mentions one or other of these species of Eranthis as doing very well naturalized in a big woodland planting in Ohio. I suspect it was E. hyemalis, but unfortunately I've recently sold off my copies of her books, so I can't look it up for you. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island