Jamie Vande Cologne Germany Zone 8 I kinda stumbled into this group via a mis-directed E-Mail, proving once again that life is full of wonderful little miracles, just like the bulbs we grow! I thought an intro would be apropos for those of you who are not aquainted with my verbose writing manner. I live in Cologne, Germany, garden on a heavy clay, since ammended with as much foliage and compost as I can lay my hands on (no easy feat in an orderly city like Cologne). We are essentially a mild and wet climate, with winters hitting -11°C on occaision and hot spells in the high 30s°C in July-August. We do have a deep freeze for 3-6 weeks, without snow cover! My main interest currently lies with Hemreocallis (which I discuss on another specialized list, so I won't bore you) and Paeonia, which is simply a fascinating genus for me. I, also, grow many typical garden bulbs, being right next to the Netherlands, as well as a few exotics, such as Phaesandra, Bomarea, Hymenocallis, Crinum, Lilium (mainly species), Colchicums, Alstromeria, Dierama, Gladiolus, Dichelostemma, Nerine, etc. I'm always looking for new challenges and am particularly interested in breeding cold tolerant strains of borderline hardies. I fascinated from this groups wiki, which is a totally new concept to this European! Cool. I need a day to get the hang, but then, watch out! I'm looking foreward to getting to know you all. Ciao,