On 4 Jun 08, at 14:52, Lee Poulsen wrote: > Is this one of those species that doesn't like to flower in a pot? The correct dialectic may be "in a pot that's not big enough." Following up on comments here on the PBS mailing list, for the last couple of years, I've been moving some of my potted bulbs into progressively larger pots, and have *tentatively* concluded that this is A Very Good Idea. In some cases, at least. Last summer I repotted my Iris cycloglossa into a 16-liter pot, and this year the display of flowers was the best ever. Tecophilaeas have been moved into pots holding 5.6 liters (so-called "2 gallon" pots, at least in local terminology), and seem to be doing better. Iris winogradowii is in 14.2 liter pots, so-called "5 gallon" and again, this year's flowering was exceptionally good. Footnote: a 16-liter pot is damnably heavy, and was a challenge to cart to our local rock garden club's monthly meeting for display. For those who aren't up on pot culture methods, a caution: be wary of the soil overheating due to sun on the side of the pot. Many bulbs native to mountainous terrains (not all) enjoy bright sun, but cool damp soil during the growing period, and cool dry soil during summer dormancy. The latter is easy to provide: just park the pots in a shady spot sheltered from rain during the summer. IOW, be sure the walls of your pots are shaded from direct sun, unless you are growing bulbs that prefer a serious summer baking. Lest inexperienced readers think big pots are universally desirable, a reminder that many amaryllidaceous bulbs seem to prefer quite crowded condition, and flowering may be checked if they are overpotted. Mother Nature having a taste for practical jokes, you can be sure that this is true of other groups, even individual species, too. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island