As listed in Cape Plants Nerine sarniensis is found on rocky slopes from Citrusdal to Caledon which is a very broad area with different amounts of rainfall. And the color Encyclopedia says "shaded" rocky slopes in loamy soil. This would include an area that even gets a little rainfall in summer. Cameron McMaster supplied a photo on the wiki of one found in the wild that was blooming after a fire. Plants were shown growing out of an opening in rocks. So at least that one would collect extra rainfall and have some protection in summer from hot temperatures from the rocks. Jim, the California coast wouldn't be described as "very hot" in summer and certainly not this summer when we've only had a handful of hot days. Most of us who live on the coast don't even have air conditioning. (It also cools off significantly most nights in summer) so there is the range of temperature changes that Mike was saying that are needed for bloom. The warmest temperatures often occur in fall since the fog in summer keeps things cool. We call it nature's air conditioning. There is a famous quote from Mark Twain about one of his coldest winters was the summer he spent in San Francisco. And not all of it is semi-desert as there is much more rainfall the farther north you go, which is the reverse of the western Cape in South Africa where there is more rainfall in the southwest Cape than in the north. It certainly isn't semi-desert where I live as there are a lot of trees. I move my Nerines into the greenhouse so they will get warmer in summer (at least for a few hours.) I'll add a few more notes on Nerine culture from past messages in another email. Mary Sue >The area in South Africa where Nerine sarniensis occurs in the wild >gets very dry and very hot in summer. It is semi-desert. They >should be able to take some heat when dry. They get their bit of >rainfall in winter. Sound's like the California coast to me.