pelarg@aol.com wrote: > I? have some Paramongaia grown from seed, though they are still too young to flower. This plant is a strict winter grower, when I worked at the NYBG I grew it with Cape bulbs in a cool greenhouse.? It will not remain green over summer, allow seedlings to go dormant, they will reemerge in the fall.? It is not a fussy plant, surprisingly, just think of it as a daffodil on steroids.? It appreciates good soil and fertilizer when in growth, but wants to be bone dry during its dormancy. > > There are two strains of Paramongaia weberbaueri. The one from the coast, which is the type I have, is just as Ernie describes. I grow it just like my Cape bulbs and treat it the same way. It does very well in this climate. (However, I have to warn people that if you grow it outside during the winter in mild climates, it does not like any frost on its leaves, so I grow mine near the house or under some protection against night time radiation freezes.) The other strain is from the Andes (I think around 10,000ft/3000 m elev.) and its growing season is shifted from the coastal strain. I have been told that it doesn't leaf out until late winter/early spring and doesn't go dormant until the latter half of the summer, and that it doesn't like winter rains while it is still dormant and the temperatures are chilly. --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USDA Zone 10a