Hi Ina, Cyrtanthus comes from both winter and summer rainfall areas and the different species have different requirements. Some of them definitely go dormant. Cyrtanthus was the topic of the week once and we have links to the introductions for it on the wiki Cyrtanthus page. <http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…> There is also a link to an article written by Graham Duncan on this genus as well. My C. brachyscyphus never completely go dormant even though I water them much less during winter and then step up the watering when I can see they are starting to send up scapes. I think you'll find some very useful information if you check out the introductions, the wiki Cyrtanthus pages, and the article we have linked. Mary Sue