Encouraged by the success I've had with some Eremurus in a raised bed, I ordered and received more this fall. When I unpacked them I was dismayed to see that all of them looked as if they had been through the war: the thong like roots were battered, broken and nicked. One did not even have a viable crown: it was just a chunk of crown without a visible bud. Never one to follow directions well, I ignored the instructions to plant them immediately and instead kept them outside, exposed to the weather, on the deck. Eventually I soaked them and immediately noticed a change in the roots: they plumped up agreeably. All of the breaks and nicks also sprouted mold immediately. I left the rootstocks out in the open air, exposed to sun and rain for several more weeks. During this period the main buds for vegetative growth began to swell noticeably - that I take as a very encouraging sign. As soon as the snow melts (a warming trend is predicted for the next few days) I'll plant them out into the garden. Here's why I'm really writing: all of these Eremurus show signs of something black around their crowns. The more I look at this, the more I'm convinced that it is charring. So here's my question for the group: do the commercial growers burn the plots after the plants have died down? And if so, is this done for weed control or to promote blooming or to control some disease - or maybe all of the above? Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 where a white-flowered Crocus cartwrightianus is blooming and C. ochroleucus is in bud; one of the witch hazels is in full bloom, too! My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/