Sometimes the pot is not the right size for the plants, but the right size for the place it is put. Or the surface area is right when one wants to grow a lot of small plants, but the pot is too deep. In my case, I won an ornate pot as a garden meeting door prize. It had too fancy a design for any of the natural plants I like, but seemed just perfect for auriculas (not the wild Primula auricula, but the artificial-looking show plants bred from it.) Some have white farina on their leaves and flowers, and need to be kept out of the rain. They are usually grown in individual pots in a cold greenhouse, but I planted a collection of them in the correct depth of potting soil on top of styrofoam in my giant prize pot, and put it beside the front door, under the eaves. When the auriculas are not in bloom, this pot serves as a display area for small potted plants in flower. If I had a lot of bulbs that would do better in pots, I would like to plant them altogether in one big pot, for visual impact and easier control of watering, but it has been difficult to get a big pot with the ratio of surface area to depth that one needs. Now that sets of pots are being shipped here from Vietnam and China, it is easier to buy a suitably-proportioned large pot. -- Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada maritime zone 8 cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually) sandy soil