On 23 Jun 2011, at 16:51, Kathleen Sayce wrote: > I have been trying A. blanda on top of a sand dune with open shade under > conifers, where it persists for 2-3 years, then disappears. The operative word in your statement is "sand." There's a very general misunderstanding that "well-drained" means "sandy", which (to quote an old hillbilly) jes' ain't true. Geophytes with their fleshy storage organs need good living; it takes good nourishment to build up those accumulations of starch. And good, nourishing soils are generally based on clay, not sand. I'm going to hazard a guess that your anemome blanda are disappearing from starvation as much as from excessive winter wet, perhaps moreso. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada