Jim McKenney asked about the near-fatal collapse of a Fritillaria purdyi bulb he got from me. He thought he might have dried it out too much. I keep this species quite dry in summer, but the bulbs are in clay pots that are plunged in sand in frames. If Jim's bulb was exposed to high heat (as it may have been since he lives in an area with greater summer heat than I do), it may have become too dry. The bulbs of this species that I sold are not fully mature. Also, he might not have planted it deeply enough, so it was too close to the soil surface and not as well protected from summer heat. F. purdyi is not one of the easier species to grow. It does not increase well vegetatively, but I usually get enough seeds to grow more from seed. Here, it has hybridized with F. biflora, and the hybrids seem quite vigorous; they are also fertile. It's easy to distinguish them because they have foliage more like biflora, even if the flowers are more like purdyi. Jane McGary Northwestern Oregon, USA