This is interesting, Jim. I don't know which side of South Africa they come from, but here in So. California I see them almost naturalized (even a few up the canyon in the national forest area) and they are definitely a natural winter-grower/summer-dormant plant in this climate. (Which could explain the too-early emergence for you.) --Lee Poulsen Pasadena, California, USDA Zone 10a Jim McKenney wrote: > A year or two ago I described the problems I was having with Chasmanthe > floribunda in my zone 7 garden. To make a long story short, it grew but did > not bloom. Back then I was storing them dry inside during the winter and > planting them out for the summer. At that time various suggestions were > made. One was that it perhaps needed more heat. That suggestion I'm sure was > made by someone who has never had the dubious pleasure of enduring summer in > Maryland. My own thoughts leaned the other way: perhaps it needed a > cool/cold period. > > With that in mind, I planted the corms outside in a protected spot where > they could remain permanently - or die. > > Last year they came out of the ground too early and were severely cut by > cold. This year, they are now just emerging. I'll protect them if necessary, > but I'm getting the impression that little by little they are adapting to > our local conditions. > > I'll let you know when they bloom (next year?). > >