Byron wrote: >> Am I potentially throwing my money away on seeds that I "go for it" with? Is it really the best approach to hold off sowing and watering (or at least watering applying Mark's suggestion) in late winter as soon as I receive the seeds of those that are winter growers? Yes, I think you are potentially throwing your money away. As you point out, any Amaryllid seeds from the other hemisphere have to be planted right away, and nursed carefully through the first year. The only alternative is to store them in a plastic bag in slightly damp peat in the fridge. That sometimes works -- it seems to put them in sort of suspended animation. But they are weak by the fall, and sometimes don't survive. But for the other seeds, I know this from long-term personal experience: If you plant now, the seeds will come up at the end of February or early March, when the weather is already starting to warm up. The bulblets may not get big enough to survive the summer drought by the time temperatures rise. If you keep watering them, they'll be very vulnerable to rot (and they may try to go dormant anyway). But if you stop watering them they'll die anyway. Not fun. You don't need to store them damp, and in fact that would make me worry about potential rot. Just toss all the seed packets in a Ziploc bag and put them in the fridge. Or just put them in a drawer someplace. Since you are in California, relative humidity is quite low, and the seeds tolerate dry storage in normal house temperatures for six months very well. Then plant them in next October as soon as the nights cool down. The cutoff for planting in my experience is Christmas at the very latest, and even then you're taking a risk. My two cents... Mike San Jose, CA (min temp 20F)