Dear All, Good to hear that some people seem to grow this plant from the seed I donated to the BX last year. I had the impression that it was not very sought after. There is plenty of more fresh seed which I could send to the BX if this would be of interest. Tradescantia boliviana was found just outside the village of Comarapa in Bolivia at an elevation around 2000m. It grew on the roadside in long drifts and was in full flower in the morning when I left Comarapa towards Siberia. At first glace it looked like our native Lythrum salicaria but at closer look it clearly was a Commelinaceae, bright pink. On my way back in the evening it was barely visible because the flowers had closed in the early afternoon. Comarapa lies in the eastern Andes in Bolivia in the Province of Santa Cruz and receives moderate summer rain with a marked dry season when temperatures are cooler. As I was there in the southern hemispere summer (February 2002) which is the rainy season I cannot tell how cold it might become in winter and I have no records about the crop plants grown in gardens of Comarapa. Crop plants like Bananas or Avocado are good indicators of frost free growing conditions. I do remember, though, that in other places at similar elevation there were growing frost tender plants. Comarapa area is very cultivated, the remains of the natural vegetation are cacti of small and medium size and shrubs, a few trees where it was moister. Woody plants were probably deciduus but were in leaf and flower when I was there. The whole area looked rather dry but the soil seemed to be a fertile deep loam, prone to erosion. This habitat is very rich in Cacti and Geophytes. The plant was propagated by a handful of cuttings which rooted easily and which were grown on in my greenhouse at first and then brought outside for the first summer. At that time I was not aware it was a tuberous plant. Only when it suddenly decided to die down in autumn I discovered that the whole pot was a solid mass of fleshy thick roots. I kept it dry and dormant and for sure frost free until next spring when it started into growth very quickly after it was warm enough and after watering. The plants in Comarapa grew in full Bolivian sun at 2000m elevation so I gave the plant the sunniest spot in my garden. It has proved a reliable floriferous plant for more than 10 years now and is one of my favourite Commelinaceae. If grown in insufficient light it will lose character and scramble on the ground instead of being an upright plant. I gave it to many people, a friend of mine who is a trained gardener lost his plant during one winter because of residual moisture in the plastic pot. When he noticed the rotting it was to late. His plant was of course replaced. His experience made me grow my own plant in a large clay pot as root balls in clay pots do dry out completely quite opposed to large plastic containers . It has become bigger and bigger every year and the roots now completely fill a 15 litre clay pot. Although the plant is very floriferous and visited by many insects and produces seed abundantly every year, I have never ever so far found a spontaneous seedling. Neither in the open garden nor in the pots of other plants. Many plants self seed into other pots in my garden and greenhouse but never T. boliviana. I have never sown any seed of it so I am glad to hear that the seed is viable. It is difficult to predict but I would not worry about it becoming invasive in a climate which has wet and cold or frosty conditions in winter. Myself I have never tried to leave a plant outside in the open garden in winter, I think it will not make it. Mine is always kept very dry but frost free in my cellar until May. As it is propagated easily you could try a spare plant outside in your winter. Only a few years ago, long after I found T. boliviana I learned that this species was described very recently. So I had "discovered" a new species without knowing..... Hope that helps, Uli