Chad asked, >0This [Sternbergia lutea] seems like such an ideal bulb for the San >Francisco Bay area, yet I have never seen any in gardens or for sale >other than online. Am I living under a rock, or is there a reason >they would be scarce ? Yes, it would be am ideal bulb for much of California. However, the genus Sternbergia is CITES listed, and therefore it is extremely expensive to get the permit to export it from Europe. Add to this the fact that it is fall-flowering, never something that fits in well with the mass-market Dutch export system, and you have the reason it doesn't show up in common bulb catalogs or garden centers. However, Sternbergias are pretty easy to grow from seed, much like the related Narcissus. I have a few that I received from European growers, and some more that I grew from seed. They flower in about four years from seed. I grow S. lutea, S. sicula, and a "half-sized" one that I believe to be a Cretan form of S. lutea in the open garden, in well-drained soil on a steep, sunny slope. In the bulb house are S. candida (from Archibalds' seed), S. greuteriana (from Antoine Hoog), S. clusiana (seed). and S. fischeri (seed). I used to have S. colchiciflora but lost it a few years ago; also grown from seed. The common ones increase well vegetatively and I distributed several when I was sending out my surplus bulb list. One important thing to know about Sternbergias is that they are extremely attractive to the large bulb fly (Narcissus fly). After some sad losses, I began to cover the plants as soon as the leaves started to show senescence and before the bulb flies emerged. I covered those in the frames with Reemay, and those in the garden I just dumped a scoop of grit over, which will not harm them. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA