Lee, Thanks for the response. I was afraid that most people were going to advocate the small window of opportunity presented by just after dormancy. I was hoping that some might have found other timings worked as well. I know plenty of others have experience with this too. But as a >general rule of thumb, the conversions that have worked the best for >me are when I get a bulb as soon after it enters dormancy in the >opposite hemisphere as possible, and then try to grow it as long as >is feasible in what is left of its normal growing conditions in my >hemisphere. I have tried to hold dormant bulbs over an extra 6 >months, but very few bulbs seem to like that. They shrivel and >sometimes disappear before the proper growing season begins in my >hemisphere, especially if they are very small bulbs, which is often >the case. Now if I can't get them early enough after dormancy I just >wait another year. That is interesting that you've found that. I have heard from others that the extra dormancy worked better (as John Grimshaw said worked well for his Galanthus) than trying for a short season. I wonder if when trying to hold over until the proper season a period in my summer first may work best and then kept in warmth by the recipient to make sure that they waited until the "proper" winter to start their cycle? I am thinking mainly the summer dormant bulbs/corms of course when I am talking about these time frames. >Our only saving grace in So. Calif. is that we get May Gray and June >Gloom which makes our early summers generally much cooler than what >the U.S. Southern states experience. But many of the summer dormant >species don't do well there anyway because it is so humid and wet >during their summers. Humidity is something we definitely don't have to worry about here in Canberra in summer. A very rare event (along with rain in most cases now too! LOL) Thanks again for the help. Cheers. Paul Tyerman Canberra, Australia - USDA Zone Equivalent approx. 8/9 Growing an eclectic collection of plants from all over the world including Aroids, Crocus, Cyclamen, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Galanthus, Irises, Trilliums (to name but a few) and just about anything else that doesn't move!!