Mary Sue, Over the past three years I've been getting seed of a lot of western frits, including pinetorum, and germinating them fine. I sow them as soon as I get them, ideally before mid-winter, and they germinate readily when the weather warms up in early spring. My seed pots get cold but don't freeze through. So many bulbs germinate in late fall and very early spring that I don't risk the young seedlings freezing through. I can't think of many (any ?) high alpine bulbs that need freezing for germination - the seed does need to be moist and get down below 40F or so for a reasonable time though. J. Dr John T Lonsdale 407 Edgewood Drive Exton Pennsylvania 19341 USA 610 594 9232 - phone 801 327 1266 - fax Zone 6b