I started Tropaeolum pentaphylum last in February. Here is what it looked like in end of September. I did cut it back later and it's already growing alot of new shoots. It didn't bloom last year, so I'm hoping it does this year. http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/… Thanks for all the information that everyone does provide here on the group. :) Donna in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane McGary" <janemcgary@earthlink.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2008 1:19 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Tropaeolum notes > Paul in Canberra wrote, > Tropaeolum tricolor isn't bothered by -8 or -9'C in the slightest. I grow > it >>outside here, both in 8 inch black plastic pots and in the >>ground. No problemo at all here at least, but obviously I can't >>vouch for any colder. > > An interesting thing about this species is its wide distribution in the > wild. You can see it right on the coastal strip where there probably is > never anything approaching frost, and up into the Andean foothills > flowering within the winter snow zone, in really nasty chilly weather. I > suspect seeds from the populations in colder areas would produce hardier > plants than seeds from the coast. I don't know where the material in > general cultivation came from originally, though. > > Like Diana I prefer twiggy branches to chicken wire supports for the small > trops. When we get a severe cold snap and I have to lay microfoam sheets > over my bulbs, I carefully lift the trop supports and lay them flat, then > reset them when I remove the foam. You can manipulate the threadlike stems > quite a bit without harming them. T. brachyceras seems to be the most > cold-hardy species I have here. I've recently seen it on Dutch wholesale > lists, so perhaps Russell Stafford (Odyssey Bulbs) will be bringing in > tubers? > > Jane McGary > Northwestern Oregon, USA > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >