All: I had to comment on cardiocrinum since I assumed for years that they would not survive in our hot humid summer. As it turns out the problem was the dead plants we kept receiving from Holland via India. From seed, they have performed beautifully since 2006, (C. cordataum, C. catheyanum, and more recently C. giganteum) growing under mature trees in an extremely dry location with a couple of hours of full sun late in the day. We moved some last spring into other parts of the garden and all have done beautifully...this is after a brutal summer where we set temperature records of over 95 days over 90 degrees F. If you obtain good quality plants, I have found reports of their demise due to weather to be greatly exaggerated. Tony Avent Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdelights.com/ phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Philip Bolt Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 1:10 PM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: Re: [pbs] Cardiocrinum Lee Thanks for the mail. I refuse to classify myself as an expert: I've got a lot to learn! WRT your question, leaving aside the views of Jim McKenny, no Cardiocrinum will survive after flowering or are you having difficulty in growing them to the flowering stage? If the later then I'm afraid I can't be of much help. What is your altitude, rainfall and winter minimum temperature? Google tells me Zone 10a is 35 - 30F min. This shouldn't be a problem: it's most probably max. temp. and water. Cardiocrinum are Himalayan plants of woodland shade and so they don't like sun and would not be happy getting too dry, ('though they also rot if too wet!). I don't think there is any particular type which would fare better than any other: keep them shaded and as cool as possible. Philip Bolt ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lee Poulsen" <wpoulsen@pacbell.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 3:20 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Cardiocrinum Wow, a Cardiocrinum expert! My question: Do you know of any species, or subspecies of Cardiocrinum that you think might grow/survive in warmer climates (such as in Southern California where I live) for more than one growing season? --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a On Mar 22, 2011, at 7:31 AM, Philip Bolt wrote: > > Philip Bolt > > UK Plant Heritage(r), Cardiocrinum National Collection holder. > _______________________________________________