Steve, Crocus laevigatus 'fontenayi' has foliage about an inch or two above ground here just north of Washington, D.C. My garden, too, is just west of the fall line, and on "clay" rather than the coastal plain sands. I've found that the local soil needs to be amended in order to grow many summer dormant bulbs. Two years ago I built a new raised bulb bed. The bed is filled with the local clay/loam, un-amended. I had been reading about the good bulbs which grow on the European terra rossa soils, and thought I was replicating them; the surface of the bed is about eighteen inches above the ground level. I thought that height would solve all of my drainage problems. Not so: I lost several plants in this bed simply because only the surface of the soil dries out much even when the bed is covered with a glass pane from early June until October. Weeds thrive under the glass without a drop of rain for months on end. Small particle soils/clays are great at retaining both nutrients and moisture. Bulbs in general thrive on these soils, but it's hard to dry out these soils. If your old stock of Crocus laevigatus didn't make it, try amending the soil. I agree, it's a great plant. Jim McKenney Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I can't match Steve Burger's palm list, but Trachycarpus fortunei and Rhapidophyllum hystrix do grow here and Sabal palmetto did for nearly thirty years. Ironically, when it died, it died during the summer.