Jacob: Bessera elegans, as others have pointed out, has a wide distribution in Mexico. Thus, it is difficult to say with precision exactly what its climatological preferences are. I have seen this plant growing in deciduous jungle habitat as well as warm oak forests, but they seem to prefer habitats that have very pronounced rainy and dry seasons. Here in Mexico, the hottest months of the year are the months BEFORE the rains start roughly at the end of May or the beginning of June. Thus, the hottest (and driest) months in Mexico are March, April and May. During these months, the trees in deciduous jungles and oak forests in Mexico lose their leaves and the ground gets baked by the sun. (The onset of the rainy season seems to be linked with altitude and lower altitudes have rainy seasons that start up to 6-8 weeks after rains began at high altitudes.) Bessera elegans and other Mexican geophytic species (including terrestrial orchids) respond to precipitation signals to trigger their emergence. Emergence is not dictated by temperature. Temperatures in some of the areas where Bessera elegans grows can possibly reach 40 degrees at night during winter but I would guess that 55-65 degrees is a more reasonable estimate during the growing season. When they are dormant they can survive light frosts but freezing is rarely encountered where they grow naturally in the wild. Day temperatures during the growing season can be over 100 degrees but 80-90F is more probable. I would suggest keeping your pots of Bessera elegans completely dry between November-April and start drenching them at the beginning of May. The bulbs can survive growing in standing water for short periods of time during their growing season and seem to like being very moist at this time. During the rainy season, the hillsides where these bulbs grow turn into veritable swamps from the quantity of rain that falls. As for a medium....I would suggest two parts fine sand, two parts humus and one part rocks/pebbles to approximate their natural growing conditions. Rather coincidentally, I posted a picture of Bessera elegans growing in the wild to the Wiki yesterday. I also posted some pictures of other Mexican geophytes including Arisaema macrospathum, Dahlia coccinea, Tigridia meleagris, Tigridia pavonia, Fuchsia fulgens, and Govenia superba in case any of these interest you. All of these were photographed in the wild with the exception of the Tigridia pavonia flower varieties that I cultivate ex-situ but that were grown from wild-collected seeds. I hope this helps. -Dennis > I wonder if it's precipitation that triggers their > emergence or do seasonal temperature changes hold more > sway? My one concern is that my winter lows are not > low enough (rarely go below 65F outdoors under my roof > eaves where I keep dormant potted bulbs), and as such, > they might need cooler temps to season them properly > for the following year's growth. > > I realise that although Bessera's native latitude is > similar to mine here in Hawai`i, but I hear that they > grow at much higher altitudes. I am at about 300' > above sea level. > > Any reflections on Bessera cultivation at tropical > latitudes would be greatly appreciated, as well as > temperature data from their habitat, if anyone has > access to it. > > >