PBS Forum

I live in the Tongass Rainforest so I know my options for outdoors growing will be limited... but can anyone recommend any species that can handle a wet climate? I'm on a mountainside so well drained is easy, but we do get a ton of rain - around 130" of precipitation annually. 
I'm just trying to find one or two bulbs that I can grow besides our native Fritillaria 

In what seasons does it rain?

Google says year round, but more from September to March, and peak in October. Add in average temps in November to March below 5°C, so little growth potential, and mild frosts. On the bonus side: no extremes in summer.

I'd guess most of the bog orchids would flourish?

Your climate allows you to grow a vast array of temperate plants which would be impossible in a climate with warm summers. All the moisture loving Southern Hemisphere plants...... and you are probably on acid soil?  You may not be able to grow bulbs which require a hot summer baking because that simply will not happen. But if you go through the WIKI you will come across a lot of bulbs which grow in constantly moist conditions. There are gladiolus species which grow in waterfalls, Wachendorfia and Wurmbea grow  in water, many Watsonia like a moist root run all year, so do Crocosmia. You do not state how much or how often you get frost, that may in fact be a more limiting factor than rain. If you have plenty of water: create a large water feature with Iris, Lysichiton, Aponogeton (but the last two may become very invasive) Gunnera may be possible, what about Hedychium? Bletilla? Maybe the more robust Crinum species and hybrids would like your conditions, Hemerocallis for sure.  Agapanthus can take a lot of moisture. I would also try the tropical tuberous waterlilies because you will have high light levels during summer.
My general recommendation is to start from seed as many different bulbs you can get hold of. This way they start under your given conditions. You will be surprised how easy this is. You will have failures, of course, but those which thrive are the rewards. And seed is not expensive. I can see a lush tropical looking very green garden.......and I hope your heart is not leaning towards a desert garden.
Happy experimenting!
Uli 

One of the remedies is a bulb frame with a cover to exclude rain from reaching the bulbs.

Not the prettiest sight but a solution.  Lots of info on the web regarding the construction.

And for the bulbs that need a summer baking, store them in a sunny coldframe, or lift and store near a window that gets annoyingly hot.

What about Tropaeolum? speciosum is known to do well in Scottland, could be something for you as well?

Maybe you could grow some bulbs that grow in wet conditions, like our Erythronium revolutum that grows along stream banks.

Or, the Leucojum aestivum that I saw blooming in a very wet valley in Europe.

Then there is that common European frit that I can't grow in my dry garden - Fritillaria meleagris, 

or the spectacular tall camschatcensis on the Alaskan panhandle.

Diane's recommendations are spot on. Tropaeolum speciosum might get too enthusiastic for you -- it really took over David Hale's second garden, in rainy Arch Cape, Oregon. Other plants of Chile's Lake District might succeed, though you are a bit colder. David had Lapageria rosea in that garden, and there is a range of beautiful climbing gesneriads; Mitraria has succeeded in warmer Portland gardens. Herbertia lahue will grow for you, though it's rather uninteresting. Many Galanthus (snowdrops) should be happy. The crocus species of the northern Balkan region tolerate a lot of moisture, as does Crocus vernus and its many commercial selections, also C. tommasinianus, and C. speciosus does well in moist sites. You could try the hardy African plants Galtonia and Eucomis, too.