Mary Sue observed, "The local timber company cleared a portion of land alongside the road and near their office a year or so ago. It looked terrible at the time and we wondered why as usually they do that kind of work where the public can't easily see it and leave buffers along the road. We speculated that they were creating a fire break. This year there are hundreds of Zigadenus growing in that spot surrounded by French broom. They must have been there all the time, but it just got too shady for them to bloom well." This is a typical occurrence in the all-too-frequent clearcuts around where I live. Yes, the bulbs are there all the time, and so are a lot of sturdy seeds, such as those of whatever Pacific Coast iris is native to the site. I've seen wonderful bloom on Lilium columbianum in clearcuts about 5 years old. Iris tenuis (the only western American crested iris species) persists indefinitely in deep forest without flowering, but once it gets some sun, it flowers and sets a little seed; we always take people ot see it (it's a narrow local endemic) growing under a high-tension power line where the trees are regularly cut. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA