At 07:06 PM 6/26/2004 -0400, Ellen Hornig wrote: >We have excellent snow cover, and this is no doubt part of the explanation. I envy Ellen's snow cover. Here, several hundred miles south of Ellen, where the winters are ostensibly milder, many of the plants she mentions are not reliable in the open garden. Eucomis, Galtonia, Crocosmia, many Kniphofia and others simply don't survive bad winters. Snow cover here is brief and erratic. Years ago I had a conversation with a Canadian agriculturist who assured me that cold as the air might be, down under the snow cover the temperature was close to 32 degrees F. It's hard to believe, but Ellen's success in an area with snow cover seems to support this view. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where we don't have reliable snow cover, but we sure do have lots of mulch. >