Hi, I live on the south sound prairie, southwest of Olympia, WA. We are near the Mima Mounds Natural area. In fact there are numerous mounds on our 5 acre property and in the neighborhood. I have collected bear grass seed from the 51 acre reserve parcel in our neighborhood, and I hope to get some plants started to plant on our property. I don't know if this is the same sub alpine variety, but it is a variety that grows at close to sea level on the western Washington prairie. I have found that we have plant and birds species that I have only seen here in our sub climate. We tend to be a bit colder in the winter and hotter & drier in summer than areas closer to Puget Sound. --