Dear John, The seeds you mention you are wanting to sow (Romuleas, Babiana, Gladiolus) are seeds that Rachel has said benefit from temperatures that fluctuate, warm days, cool nights. I have experimented with different times to start them and have settled on October as the best time for me. If I have a lot of seeds I will plant at various times during that month. Except for Lachenalia that often germinates quickly, I find I can see signs of germination in about a month, although sometimes it is longer. Since where I live the daytime temperatures in September and October can be the warmest of the year, I like to wait until it will be a bit cooler for them to be growing (November). Last year I experimented with starting some South African seeds in January. Don Mahoney had told me he has good luck doing this. Since I have a cool spring I thought I could get away with keeping them growing longer and it would be worth a try since the seed would be fresher than if I waited until the following fall which is what I usually do. It is true many of them germinated, grew, and eventually went dormant but other seeds in those pots are coming up now which could be a problem if the hot weather comes. The final opinion on this is still out. Veltheimia is a summer rainfall species and has only a brief dormancy for me. When we've discussed it before, it remains evergreen for some. Gladiolus species are very variable in blooming and growing times. There are some that grow and bloom in summer. Gladiolus carmineus is a fall bloomer and I saw my first flowers of it a couple of days ago. It sounds a bit early for Tritonia however. Since we have had such a cool summer I am finding as I repot that even some of my natives already have roots and even some shoots. Hopefully they won't suffer too much if we finally get warmer weather in September. Mary Sue