A local small home nursery owner grows Pleione in the ground. He has it caged to protect from burrowing rodents but does not provide it with any other special care. He's in the Sierra foothills, Zone 7 or 8, very hot in summer (he does irrigate during our very dry summers) and mild, wet winters with 30 to 70 inches of rain. He probably gets an occasional light frost but the ground is unlikely to freeze. As I've mentioned before, Bletilla performs beautifully here in the ground with no special care, getting very wet in winter and tremendous heat in summer. I saw young ladyslippers at Lowes for less than five dollars. At that price, I think I will try those as well. Pleione is a little too pricy for me to risk, yet. Kathy Stokmanis vikingdoc@earthlink.net Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.