I've remarked before on the simultaneous germination of Colchicum seeds, even those planted in several years, apparently in response to a certain temperature sequence in winter. This year I had the opportunity to grow about 500 kinds of seed distributed from a seed bank that had been kept since the early 1990s by an individual who is now disabled. I volunteered to "take on" various genera -- whatever bulbs I could request, but also a number of dicots popular with alpine gardeners -- so I now have the chance to observe germination patterns in those. It is quite a surprise to see some of these very old seeds still viable. Today two Leucocoryne species (South American Iridaceae) appeared, the first of the geophytes to do so; one is Leucoryne vittata, a beautiful plant I've never seen in nature (the seed bank held many collections of John Watson and Anita FLores, some of which I passed on to a friend who is expert in growing Andean alpines). It was no surprise that the first flushes of germination were in Dianthus and Alyssum, which I knew were immediate germinators, and other members of the Caryophyllaceae (Arenaria, Minuartia) and Apiaceae (crucifers such as Draba and Erysimum) appeared quickly. How amazing that the tiny seeds of alpine Draba or small Calceolaria spp. could survive as long as 20 years in cold storage! Some other surprises were several Eriogonum (likely to have long viability given that many are adapted to arid environments) and the showy South American composite Pachylaena atriplicifolia (I would not have expected survival of a composite). I think at least some seeds are "timed" to germinate when the mature plant would normally begin to make its annual growth. Seeing how this timing is synchronized widely in a genus is very interesting. You may wonder how this would work for the immediate germinators that live in cold-winter areas. From what I've seen, some of them retain the seeds on the plant in the capsules until snowmelt and warming temperatures arrive. However, when I lived near Fairbanks, Alaska, an extreme climate, I saw that some native alpines I sowed germinated immediately and then remained under the snow as tiny seedlings until spring. Snow is a good insulator when there are no thaws for the whole winter. I don't grow any tropical or subtropical plants since I have no frost-free facility here. Do their seeds tend to germinate immediately? Is the pattern similar throughout a genus, as it is in temperate genera? About 20 people are growing these seed bank seeds, and we plan to distribute individual plants when they're ready through NARGS events and a couple of nurseries that are involved. There were more than 6,000 packets involved, and PBS member Claire Cockcroft handled the distribution, a huge task. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA