Kathleen asked, At 02:08 PM 9/7/2011, you wrote: > >From Jane's comment: > >it took about 7 years for >the native species to grow from sowing to flowering in my former >garden. It's better to propagate them from offsets, which at least in >V. californicum are numerous. > >So Jane, how big should the offsets be? I am envisioning a muddy dig >on the Columbia River to extract a few. Usually in my plants the main central "bulb" is about the size of an elongated grapefruit, with offsets of various sizes down to about lemon size. Digging them is not easy as they tend to be deep and very tenacious. Be careful not to break them and don't try to overwinter them in pots, put them right into the ground. Good luck! Jane