Mary You may like to read this. Go down to "There's no smoke without fire". http://www.scillyonline.co.uk/sutd/sutd11311.html This may or may not have been written by an "expert" but essentially I think it is correct. The Scilly islands are off the SW coast of England, are more or less frost free, and at one time supplied thousands of cut flowers to the city markets. Less so now I believe. Brian Whyer, Buckinghamshire, England, zone ~8 > -----Original Message----- > From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On > Behalf Of Mary Gutierrez > Sent: 11 October 2006 5:57 > To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > Subject: [pbs] Question about fire and bulbs > > I have been reading a lot about South African bulbs, and references > say that some species bloom better after fire. > > I know that a number of other SA plants: restios, proteas, etc., > require fire for seed to germinate, but is it a similar requirement > for some of the bulbs? > > Or are bulbs more abundant after fire simply because competing brush > is cleared? > > I'm curious about this, because I want to know if the lack of fire in > a garden environment (hopefully!) means that some of these bulbs > won't grow successfully for the gardener. > > If anyone has insight on this, I'd appreciate it. > > Thanks! > > Mary Gutierrez > Seattle > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php