Mary Sue, in an August 30 post (Re: [pbs] Wi sowing times) mentioned something recently which I meant to follow up on. She was wondering when to begin sowing fall growing plants. Coincidentally, I had been reading Ian Young's Bulb Log on the SRGC site, and read that he gives his fall-winter growing plants their first good watering on September first. Ian is in Scotland where I suppose the day length is about to begin to shorten dramatically. Here in Maryland we still have a good month and a half of good growing weather ahead of us, and there is always the chance that there will not be a killing frost until well into November. So there is no rush here to get things going, and in fact, soil temperatures will probably remain relatively high for weeks. Wet warm soil and bulbs are not in my experience a good combination. Do others follow a strict schedule in starting to water fall blooming Crocus, Colchicum and other fall bloomers? If so, when and why? Jim McKenney Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where the soil is dry as powder and the fall bloomers show no sign of life except Colchicum bivonae 'Apollo' which is on the way up - although Scilla scilloides has been in bloom for weeks.