>So what should one do (in So. Calif.) if he is tempted beyond the ability to resist into purchasing them in mid-spring at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical > Garden (RSABG) plant sale? I cannot get them to survive in their pots until the autumn. My instructions from Avon Bulbs, with regard to Iris unguicularis 'Alba' which I find equally "miffy", was to buy it in a pot. Plant the pot where I want it to grow, when it appears healthy and established (2-3 months?) and hopefully some roots are coming out of the bottom of the pot, lift the pot, knock the plant out and plant the root ball in the same hole, and water in. Having said that although I had that particular plant for longer than previously attempts, I still could not establish it in the garden. Brian Whyer, Buckinghamshire, England, zone ~8 ish (Iris reticulata time now)