At 01:01 PM 13/01/2012, you wrote: >Several species of Albuca have bulbs with few >scales an in some others the center simply >disappears and the bulb looks like a doughnut. >Albuca nelsoni is evergreen with the growing >season in spring, summer and autumn, flowering >in late spring. Full sun, frost free conditions, >well drained soil. They clump well and some >forms are very fine foliage plants. Bulbs will >grow out of the the soil. Massive, they need large containers or the ground. > >Slight frosts burn the foliage starting at the >tips and then destroying the whole leaf. Howdy All, I am guessing that there must be variations in the hardiness of Albuca nelsonii if slight frost is supposed to destroy the whole leaf. Mine in the garden are something like 10 years old, now multiplying up quite nicely. They took -9'C in late winter this year without missing a beat, along with the normal -6s etc that we got at various times in the rest of winter. I never realised until Alberto's message that these are supposed to be frost free..... mine most definitely are not, and most definitely are thriving where they are. Mine get about half day of full sun, with dappled shade in the afternoon from an open high Eucalypt. I would more or less regard this as full sun, or well more than full sun for some of you in colder climates <big grin>. They just don't quite get the heat of the afternoon. As Alberto says, the bulbs are sitting on the surface of the soil, and therefore have no protection from soil "insulation". Mine are fully exposed in winter as they are amongst roses that are pruned hard during winter and then offer not much cover at all. In the case of mine, the bulbs themselves would definitely be exposed to freezing, and have never exhibited any major problems with them. They keep their leaves during winter, although they do tend to look a little tatty by the end of it...... they do not seem to suffer from this at all and the main bulbs (now 3, currently ending their flowering for this year) flower every year, with offsets forming well in the last couple of years. Bear in mind as well though that our night temps in winter always rise to well above freezing during the day, so the ground never stays permanently frozen. Whether I somehow have a more cold tolerant form or not I don't know? It's obviously worthwhile experimenting to find out, although I would definitely grow any seed for a while under more protected conditions and only experiment when you have enough to lose some. <grin> All the best everyone. Cheers. Paul T. Canberra, Australia - USDA Zone Equivalent approx. 8/9 Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C. Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only. Growing an eclectic collection of plants from all over the world including Aroids, Crocus, Cyclamen, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Galanthus, Irises, Liliums, Trilliums (to name but a few) and just about anything else that doesn't move!!