Joe discussed Dodecatheon ("shooting star"; Primulaceae) as a western
American geophyte. I think the eastern American species, D. meadia, which
is the one usually cultivated, does not have the same type of storage root
as the numerous summer-dormant western species, which typically grow in
habitats that are very wet in spring and dry out to some extent later.
Even the genus Primula has turned to geophytic behavior in the American
west, for example Primula cusickiana (there is also a tuberous Primula in
Turkey, whose name escapes me at the moment).
I grow Dodecatheon clevelandii, a large species from the central California
coast, in my dry bulb frame, where it flowers in late winter. It probably
would not survive in the open garden here. Most other Dodecatheon species
of the West are alpine to subalpine and rather difficult to grow in lowland
gardens where they don't get a good cold winter dormant period. D.
dentatum, which is not showy, is perhaps the easiest. Another species
sometimes available in commerce is D. pulchellum. The seeds are easy to
collect and often available in exchanges, but raising seedlings is a slow
process; they stay small for a long time and are hard to transplant. The
best way to move them into the garden is to set the entire pot of seedlings
into its permanent site undisturbed. A good bulbous companion, flowering
about the same time, is Camassia quamash.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA