Gastil wrote >Well the climate envy goes both ways. :) Those Colchicum autumnale I >received from you via the PBS BX 321 in August 2012 just have not >thrived at all in my garden, likely because it is so much drier and >warmer here. That is probably the Colchicum species that extends farthest north. There are many (who knows how many? Not until Dr. Persson tells us) species from warmer climates that would thrive in Santa Barbara, California. For instance, Gastil could grow Colchicum variegatum, the beautiful tessellated species that is one parent of the hardier C. x agrippinum. Many of the fall-blooming small Colchicum species are from warm places such as Anatolia and the Peloponnese (some photos appear in the wiki). There is a cold-hardy small species that flowers now: Colchicum hungaricum. I have both pink and white color forms of the species and two select forms, 'Valentine' (large pink) and 'Velebit Star' (small, floriferous white). The latter is in full bloom now and 'Valentine' is just showing color in its buds, not quite in time for Valentine's Day but it has a good excuse, having been frozen solid all last week.I suspect this would survive in colder areas than the Pacific Northwest and Holland given snow cover in the worst part of winter, and would then flower later. I bought these from European vendors and grew the unnamed forms from seed. Growing colchicums from seed is a gamble and it's always interesting to see several species, sown in different years perhaps, germinate within a single week in late winter. The smaller ones can flower in their fourth year from germination, or rarely in the third year. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA'