Josh Young wrote: > Arnold, > > Believe me, I wrote them, he kinda got snippy with me. He said that the US > is way too Hostile and it wouldn't survive. I decided to leave that one alone > :) > > > I don't know how people ever find some of these plants! > I'm not sure why, but in southern California, Paramongaias grow almost exactly like typical mediterranean type bulbs (California native bulbs, Cape bulbs from western South Africa, etc.) they start leafing out in late autumn or early winter, grow through the winter (although in my experience, the foliage is very sensitive to air temperatures below about -1°C but have no problems with temperatures above that whatsoever). They tend to bloom in late winter and go dormant in late spring or early summer. But other than treating them as mediterraneans, as Michael Benedito said, they are very easy to grow in my opinion. In no way is the US too hostile for them. I think it is Longwood Gardens that used to grow lots of them and produced seeds regularly. (That seems to be the challenge although I think someone else on the East Coast of the U.S. has gotten them to produce seeds, and someone down in New Zealand has also gotten them to produce seeds but not regularly.) I don't know what happened to that program; maybe they're still growing them but not telling anyone... There is another variant, and it is a true variant, that emerges in late winter or spring, flowers later than the first type, and doesn't go dormant until late summer. Tomorrow's Plants is supposed to possess both types. An article in Herbertia reports that there are two distinct populations where it is found: One is in low elevation coastal hills near the Pacific in Peru. The other is in the Andes of Peru at about 2000 m of elevation. I surmise that the second variant comes from this population, but I've never seen it myself. Josh, my experience is that you just have to have a little patience for opportunities to get your hands on some of these rarities to occur. I guarantee they will. For some number of years I was certain I'd never ever get to grow any of the really neat things I kept hearing about or seeing photos of that nobody sold. Slowly, and sometimes unexpectedly, over the years different kinds of opportunities have popped up. There are some I'm still looking/hoping for (anyone have extra Eucrosia aurantiaca?). But I'm still confidant the opportunity to obtain even those will eventually appear one of these years... ;-) --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a