Hi Jacob, I don't think anyone has *nothing* worthwhile to post, especially to this list, and Jacob just proved it IMO. I think this was a very informative post, moreso than you might imagine. Keep posting whenever you even think you have something to say. I'm positive at least one person, and most likely even more, will benefit from it. There's a reason Protea (and other mediterranean climate plants) grow so well in the highlands of Maui. As far as I'm concerned it's the 6th mediterranean climate region of the world. (The other five, more classicly known ones, are: the entire coastal regions bounding the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Atlantic coasts of Portugal and Morocco, California (as well as southern coastal Oregon and the regions of Washington and British Columbia in the rain shadow of the Olympic Peninsula), Central Chile, the Western Cape region of South Africa, and the coastal regions surrounding Adelaide in South Australia and the southwestern region of West Australia including Perth.) See the (rather crowded, but informative) plot of a bunch of key locations from all six mediterranean regions on the wiki: <http:// http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…>. (It's in the Miscellaneous section.) You'll note that two towns in upper Maui (as well as one in upper Lanai) all have the classic annual mediterranean rainfall pattern. And they have corresponding temperatures as well. Surprisingly, none of the highland locations I checked on either side of the Big Island had such a rainfall pattern. So you should easily be able to grow any mediterranean climate bulb in that part of Maui. If you want a good source of other tropical South American amaryllid seeds like Hipp. calyptratum, be sure to check Mauro Peixoto's list of (mostly) Brazilian natives on a regular basis: <http:// http://www.brazilplants.com/> (in either English or Portuguese) or go directly to <http://mpeixoto.sites.uol.com.br/Seeds.html>. Buried Treasures <http://www.buried-treasure.net/catalog/index.php> still has some Proiphys amboinensis bulbs for sale. They have them every year. Great plants. Supposedly no one has seen Bessera tenuiflora for a while, but a few people have seen it in various parts of the coast of southern Baja California last fall. I submitted some photos from one of these guys as mystery photos and quite a number of the experts who inhabit this list almost immediately determined what it was. They're on the wiki now (under Behria). Good luck with your bulb hunts. --Lee On May 24, 2007, at 12:35 PM, Jacob Knecht wrote: > > My main reason for posting is just to share my > gratitude for this group and all who take time to > contribute. I really think this is a fantastic > organisation, the PBS Wiki is phenomenal. Although I > have been growing bulbs for a while I still don't feel > like I have that much more advice to add than what has > already been placed in previous discussions. > > I see this as a 10-15 year experiment to see if I can > not only successfully grow these South African bulbs > in this climate, but also get them to bloom! If I am > fortunate to develop a strategy at getting these to > bloom in my climate I will be sure to keep the board > updated. If they don't do so well, I intend to try > some up in the high elevations of Maui island where > Protea are so successfully grown. > > A very kind friend gave me some seed of Hippeastrum > calyptratum and they have grown with so much vigour!! > > I am always on the lookout for non hybridised species > (an non virused!) of Eucharis, Griffinia and other S. > American amaryllids. There are so many exciting > little treasures that should be brought into > cultivation. I'd like to grow Proiphys as well. > > By the way, has anyone ever seen Pseudogaltonia > clavata, Eucrosia dodsonii, Stenomesson auranticum, > Bessera tenuiflora or Urceolina pendula for sale? >