Hans wrote > Today I have received from a plantfriend some bulbs of > Moraea - can anybody help me and give some intractions > for treatment ( culture ) . > > What kind of soil ,feeding , summer - or wintergrowing, > watering..... The Moraeas are following : > alticola, villosa , vegata , tricospidata , saxicola , > cilliata , setacea , atropunctata , gawlerii; Spelling: ciliata with one L gawleri with one I tricuspidata vegeta I have read M. alticola is a summer-grower from high altitude and it grows in very wet or swamp conditions. It is supposed to tolerate USDA zone 6. The rest are winter growers. I have never been to Africa but my friends who have been there in the winter say they always saw bulbs growing in the wet ditches by the roadside. I am growing a lot of Moraea species from seed but none have bloomed yet. I read they do well in sandy soil, maybe half or more sand, and very deep pots. My seedlings are in pots about 150 mm deep. When they are mature I will use deeper pots still. They like water during the growing season. Don't let them dry out when growing. They should remain completely dry when dormant. I find most winter-growing bulbs bloom and grow better if they are stored dormant in a very warm place. I have read many things about fertilizing and I don't know what is true. I used ammonium sulfate, about 5 grams per liter, once a week for my seedlings. The winter growers don't mind a little frost at night. They were fine here at my house with night temperatures down to -5C for short periods of time. Mature plants should like a lot of winter sun, especially in Germany. Maybe also M. alticola likes a lot of sun in the summer there. For now, you might plant the species in separate pots that are very deep. Water them all once lightly. Put the winter-growers into a warm spot to dry out and store them in a very warm spot. I would put the M. alticola in a sunny spot and water it a lot, even before it grows. In the fall when the leaves start to turn yellow stop watering and let it dry for the winter. In the fall put the winter-growers into a sunny spot and begin to water them heavily. They should sprout and start growing. I have found here that most of the winter bulbs need a lot of water in the fall to wake up and grow. A great book is The Moraeas of South Africa Peter Goldblatt (text) Fay Anderson (watercolors) Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens 14 1986 ISBN 0 620 09974 7 I found mine at Rainbow Gardens Bookshop in the US for 40 dollars but that was some years ago. Today I see it there for 50 dollars. I think you can find it in the EU. http://www.rainbowgardensbookshop.com/ If you really like bulbs you should also get The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs J.Manning P.Goldblatt D.Snijman Timber Press 0 88192 547 0 2002 This one is still only 55 dollars, which is very cheap for such a wonderful book. It covers the winter-rainfall portion of the Cape. Leo A. Martin Phoenix, Arizona, USA Continue, because you must. --Goethe