This morning I went down the driveway to where there had been a mixed planting of small bulbs. Optimist that I am I thought to use a heavy duty rake with short, very stout tines to rake, then sift with a fairly open mesh sieve. As we say here in New Jersey, Fuggedaboutit! The still very wet soil, no plants showing, had been pushed around by equipment, then run over by something with treads. In the end I put down an empty peat moss bag to kneel on and used a hand fork to dig up clods of clay-ey soil. Crumble with my fingers and pick out what looks like bulbs. Fair number of what I am reasonably confident are Arisarum probiscoideum, mouse tail arum, which had been thriving in that area. Some long skinny tubers that I am hopeful are the Japanese Anemone flaccida. And some unintentionally rescued epimedium. Anemone nemorosa 'Bridal Veil' was also in that area but either I have not yet found any or they are disguised as A. flaccida. After the acetaminophen kicks in and my back is not twinging as much I will sort my rescues by type. Then I think I will pot them up, so to speak, in those deep square plant boxes that were mentioned for holding deep pots. And sink them in the ground for the winter. Sound good? And do I try to rescue everything, or just call it good enough at some point. Still haven't gone into the woods across the seasonal brook. Plus the county has not yet excavated the culvert from the seasonal brook that crosses under the road. Which is clogged with gravel and gunk to the level of the street. Either I'm getting too old for this or gravity has gotten stronger since I was younger. Judy, hopeful that Himself will bring the cars up to the garage from the neighbors house where they have been parked since the day after the storm. _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>