Hardiness ratings, especially those based on the USDA zones (which were originally developed for fruit trees and other crops), are nearly meaningless in relation to geophytes. For one thing, they are not useful in mountainous regions: where I formerly lived in the foothills of the steep Cascade Mountains, my place was just about on the border between Z8 and Z1! The zones developed by Sunset Magazine for the American west are useful there, but probably not in eastern North America. To have a good laugh, look at the hardiness ratings given in commercial bulb catalogs. Even for woody plants, here in the Pacific Northwest I hesitate to plant anything not rated at least one zone lower than where I supposedly live, because one year in four it will be much colder than "average." Only experience with local conditions and even the microclimates of your own garden will give you some control over what to plant, along with observing what grows well in older gardens and, especially, for older gardeners. And then you will get some surprises, especially when some misidentified or self-sown bulbous plant grows in exactly the wrong place and flourishes (e.g., the Ornithogalum reverchonii I mistook for O. narbonense bulbs). Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…