This posting should probably go to Alpine-L eventually. I inherited a small assortment of tiny sinningias years ago. And as others have reported, I found them very easy to manage and very forgiving. I’ve never lost an interest in them, but perhaps for a reason which might surprise you. I think they are ideal candidates for use as seasonal rock garden plants. They have the sort of éclat we expect from the best rock garden plants and they certainly fit in dimension-wise. But it is their ease of cultivation and management which impress me. In our climate they thrive under our growing-season conditions. And in the autumn when freezes threaten, it’s a simple matter to scoop them up and pop them into a plastic bag for the winter. Once the foliage is dormant, they don’t even need light. It was these tiny sinningias which caused me to realize the potential of gesneriads as rock garden and trough plants. After the vernal rush, our rock gardens can be pretty dull. These tiny sinningias (don’t many of them grow on rocks or trees in the wild?) fit right into the rock garden’s scheme of things. I’m trying Achimenes for this purpose, too. And I’m making a list of other gesneriads which might work – Smithiantha has also caught my eye. I know we have some keen gesneriad growers on this list; I hope more will chime in and give me an idea of what to expect. Winter hardy gesneriads (other than Ramonda and kin) seem to be just out of reach right now, but many are hardier than expected. Sinningia leucotricha has survived here outside all year for years near a house wall. Maybe raising them en masse will provide a few plants with enhanced hardiness. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/