How about approaching this from the point of view of what species are hardy in a given location, e.g., central Indiana in my case? I can grow the following here, with survival times of several years or longer: Arisaema heterophyllum, stewardsonii*, triphyllum Chionodoxa lucilae Colchicum autumnale, byzantinum, cilicicum, speciosum Corydalis angustifolia, solida Crinum bulbispermum, variabile Crocosmia 'Lucifer' Crocus tommasinianus, nudiflorus, cartwrightinaus Fritillaria acmopetala, crassifolia kurdica, pallidiflora Galtonia candicans* Gladiolus caucasicus, imbricatus, italicus, oppositiflorus salmoneus Hemerocallis coreana, dumortieri, minor, thunbergii Iris delavayi, sanguinea, setosa, siberica cvs., tectorum, versicolor Lycoris caldwellii, chinensis, longituba, sprengeri, squamigera Narcissus calcicola*, obvalleris, large-cup cvs. Scilla siberica Sternbergia lutea Trillium sp. * indicates survives in restricted locations The list above includes local native species as well as exotics. So I would say that, here in Indiana, we approximate the wetter, colder parts of Central Asia and China. We definitely have a continental climate, modified by the influence of the Gulf of Mexico, which is only about 1000 miles/1600 km away. Things that are very resistant to severe cold but need to be really dry for part of the year require special locations to survive here. Things that cannot tolerate humid heat in summer -- most alpines -- cannot survive here. We are a far cry from the moderate maritime climates of the world! We can do a better approximation of a desert than of England. Our winter low temperatures reach -10 to -20 F/-23 to -29 C on occasion and hover at ca 0 F/-18 C for days at a time in winter; snow cover is spotty and usually of short duration. Summer highs average 86 F/30 C in mid-summer, topping out at around 95 F/35 C. We have 35 to 40 inches/ca. 90 to 100 cm of precipitation (as liquid) per year, rather evenly spread over all 12 months. Jim Shields in central Indiana in the wet eastern half of the Midwest USA ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA