There are a good number of suggestions on the PBS Wiki Calochortus page: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Also, linked from that page is a growing guide from Hugh McDonald, a master Calochortus grower. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… I agree with Peter that planting bulbs deeply is important but not absolutely necessary. The bulbs will find their way down deeper into the pot each year. Calochortus greenii is in Section Mariposa, that means full sun, and good well-drained soil. I have found that all Calochortus species responded very well from being fertilized. I suggest you give your plant a bigger pot, more sun, and frequent fertilizer. The only disadvantage with a bigger pot is that it's hard to dry the pot out completely. Any moisture during dormancy and you risk the bulbs rotting away. It's perfectly fine to remove the bulbs and store them in a paper bag until the growing season. These bulbs lose all of their roots during dormancy so disturbance should not matter. Happy planting, Nhu On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 2:43 PM, Peter Taggart <petersirises@gmail.com>wrote: > I can claim no great success with Calochortus, but, as no one else has > answered, I suggest that standard procedures would be to plant the bulbs > very deeply which helps promote bulb size and promote flowering. Flower > buds should be initiated by heat soon after the bulb dies down for the > Summer. Stem growth should then be stimulated by cold temperature > fluctuations in Autumn and Winter. > People do put pots of bulbs in the refridgerator to increase stem length if > the flowers are prone to opening below ground, and to increase the size of > the flowers > Another factor may be that the bulbs would like to remain undisturbed for a > few years before flowering. > I know little about Calochortus, these are just some useful principles for > cultivating winter growing bulbs. > Peter (UK) > > > > On 22 May 2014 00:09, Giant Coreopsis <giantcoreopsis@gmail.com> wrote: > > > This may be an obscure one but here goes: > > > > Season after season these bulbs survive, but they aren't terribly robust > > (just a single blade) and they don't ever bloom. It's been that way when > > they are planted in the ground and when planted in pots. This year they > > were in partial shade in a mix of sand, peat, perlite and some other > > organics. Any idea how to improve performance? > > > > I am in LA and C. greenei's range in the far north of California into > > Oregon > > (http://calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi/… > ). > > It's been suggested that I might want to mimic a cold winter. How would > I > > do this - eg, is it as simply as putting the pot in my refrigerator for a > > couple of months over the winter? > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >