Of the hundreds of crocus I have planted over the years, I have three groups of spring-blooming ones left. I used to have success with them before those wretched Eastern gray squirrels migrated here (though since they probably can't swim, I think it was a deliberate importation to this island, perhaps by some homesick Easterner.) Fortunately, we don't have any of the tunnelling creatures that plague gardeners on the mainland, and I hope that anyone who would be homesick for them won't move here. So: the survivors: 1. That big purple hybrid that you can buy at the hardware store. I think its bulbs are under a rock. 2. C. chrysanthus Cream Beauty in an area that trucks park on all year except for right now when they are blooming. 3. C. tommasinianus grown from seed and buried under a lot of tough roots of a species rose, a grape, and lots of ivy. The only thing in common is the difficulty of digging them out by whatever might otherwise like to. -- Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada maritime zone 8 cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually) sandy soil