Boyce wrote: "Have to admit, the landscape on the south side of my house is a bit 'odd' with the tender geophytes lining the edge of the basement wall and more hardy plants in front of them. This is also the location I have had the best luck growing hybrid tea roses - they simply freeze out everywhere else." Too funny, Boyce. It's almost exactly the same here. Substitute tea rose for hybrid tea and it's about the same. Decades ago I was invited to speak to the local men's garden club ( men’s garden club? that in itself gives you an idea of how long ago it was) on the topic of bulbs. I was young and full of it, and wanted to strut my stuff. I showed pictures of lots of marginally hardy and tender bulbs, pictures taken in my garden, many of them plants of which most of my audience had never heard. When I discussed the culture of each one, I generally mentioned something like "grow them on the south side of the house, near a wall". After about forty-five minutes of this, and exasperated voice in the dark called out "how long is your south wall?” Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/