Jane McGary wrote: “When I move to the city I'll be facing the same kind of squirrels Jim has in Maryland, because some idiot introduced the eastern gray squirrel in Portland, Oregon years ago. It has driven out the native small brown Douglas squirrel, which is the species I have here in the foothills. Both are real pests in the bulb garden.” From what I’ve read, that same idiot got around a lot. He or she also seems to have traveled in Europe extensively with enough squirrels to get them started in several countries. And believe it or not, there are those who say that the gray squirrels we now have here in the greater Washington, D.C. area are imports. The nineteenth century predilection for Cumberland stew seems to have resulted in the extermination of the local, indigenous populations of both gray and fox squirrels. My father, who grew up on a farm in Caroline County, Virginia, always marveled at the brazen, cheeky squirrels we have here in Maryland. He used to joke that back home you couldn’t get within rifle range of a wild squirrel or crow. Jane, that small plant of Fritillaria raddeana is quite the charmer: I’m not sure I want a big, strapping three footer! Until last fall it had been grown in a pot, a four inch pot. This year its roots are free to roam in one of the unprotected cold frames. We’ll see what happens. Jane, what potting medium do you use for this species? And do you grow it in a pot, a big pot? Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7, where the peepers have been in chorus off and on since March 7. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/