I find Leo's details and observations interesting, - and they are important for the understanding of growth patterns of the bulbs concerned. However they should not distract people from the basic idea that very few summer growing bulbs will thrive if they are stored out of the ground in either desiccating or hot wet environments. There are always many people who are trying new types of plant who make mistakes fatal to their new and expensive plants due to reading such detail before understanding general good practice. The first Rhinopetalum I tried to grow was Fritillaria bucharica. An author on a book about Fritillaria gave a talk at the local rock garden club, where I asked his advice. Prior to that I had certainly kept such bulbs too dry, not allowing that even dessert bulbs need moisture in order to grow. His advice was "put it out in the rain .. yes it will take all the water it can get at this time of year!" that was a wet October. The plant was in an appropriate soil mix (not that he asked) and the bulb was dead in three days. Even then I had about 25 years of extensive experience in handling many types of plants. I now know enough that I believe I could grow Fritillaria bucharica in the ground, even in wet years. I don't bother trying. Yes, I do soak such bulbs on occasion, and yes, I do water in summer, and yes, I do 'bake' many bulbs with good results, but the basic principles which avoid dessication and rot are much more important to explain first. On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 5:51 AM, Leo A. Martin <leo@possi.org> wrote: > Some of us have watered our southern African bulbs during the summer on > purpose or through carelessness and have not had problems. The Great > Karroo areas can get some summer rain, which generally comes from the > northeast but doesn't reach the south coast of Africa, in contrast to the > winter rain, which generally comes from the southwest and doesn't reach > too far inland. The Karroo area is in the overlap. > > But realize that some winter-growing plants may die if watered even once > during hot weather. > > The fleshy-rooted Amaryllidaceae are another situation. These plants struggle in my care unless I manage to keep their > roots alive during their long dormancy, especially first-year seedlings. > >