To my (extreme) surprise, several C. bulbispermum that I planted out (not near the house) here in Shrewsbury MA, just east of Worcester (zone 6-ish, with good snow cover this winter), came through the winter just fine. They didn't limp through - they leafed out early and with conviction. They were roughly 3-4 years old from seed, and had previously overwintered in my Oswego, NY garden. No flowers yet, but definitely healthy plants. Other bulb news: Albuca fastigiata rotted, but A. humilis overwintered so well, and self-sowed so freely, that I will be more cautious with it hereafter, and will deadhead it. Rhodohypoxis baurii overwintered fine and bloomed well (pinks, whites and a lovely dark pink form). Like the other S Africans, these are on an east-facing slope in sandy loam mulched with a ground bark mulch - not necessarily what you'd think of as good for small bulbs. In the same conditions some Gladiolus dalenii (a collection from Dawie Human that tends towards tans and reds rather than yellows and oranges) fared well, but I think most of my orange/yellow types perished. Tritonia disticha looks good, T. dracomontana is gone. Gladiolus oppositiflorus salmoneus came through, but not too well; G. saundersii was fine; G. crassifolius has disappeared; and - the real surprise - G. aurianticus overwintered well. This bloomed two years ago in pots, and was the real thing. It didn't bloom in the garden last year so I'll be interested to see if it does this year. Gladiolus 'Boone', that old stalwart, 5 feet from the G. aurianticus, is limping back in the form of smaller corms and bulblets. Galtonia candicans, G. viridiflora and/or G. regalis (I'm not entirely sure what I have there) are all back and in bud. Most of my eucomis died, but good old 'Peace Candles' came back like a champ, and a few of a dwarf E. autumnalis situated in the driest part of the garden did fine, while others from the same batch in a less dry area all rotted. A couple of Zantedeschia albomaculata came through, albeit weakly, as did a few Z. aethiopica from the eastern Cape (also small and sad-looking, but technically alive, with, I would assume, few prospects). Kniphofia uvaria from the eastern Cape did fine. All in all, interesting and somewhat unexpected. I'm guessing that a cold dry winter will do lots more damage, when it inevitably comes along. Ellen On Fri, Jul 5, 2013 at 6:06 PM, Kathleen Sayce <ksayce@willapabay.org>wrote: > I've grown Crinum x powellii on the coast of WA, SW corner, for years. It > flowers late, usually in August. I also have a slowly increasing bulb of C. > bulbispermum, which has yet to flower for me. So I would have to say that > lack of heat units doesn't deter the first one from flowering, it simply > delays it. > > Kathleen > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > -- Ellen Hornig 212 Grafton St Shrewsbury MA 01545 508-925-5147