Bob Nold wrote, "Seeds of species adapted to cold winters would not germinate until the following spring in any case, otherwise new seedlings would be killed in their first cold winter. " I suppose it depends on the winters to which they have adapted. I used to live in Fairbanks, Alaska, which is, to put it mildly, cold in winter. All winter. I collected wild seeds -- alpine perennials, not bulbs -- for my little rock garden there and sowed them immediately in pots. Some species germinated immediately, and I left the seed pots outdoors under the snow all winter. In spring (late May), when the snow melted, they resumed growth. The point of difference here is that they were under an average of 60 cm/2 feet of snow that never thawed until spring. Temperatures at the soil surface were far warmer than the atmospheric temperatures. Of course, rodents are active under the snow, but my dogs helped control them (I suspect owls did too), so there probably wasn't much danger of their eating the seedlings when they had better resources elsewhere. One spring I was very surprised to see tomatoes germinating in the vegetable garden from the previous year's discarded fruits. The arctic bulbous species discussed a month or two previously must enjoy the same kind of protection, though I wonder about Lloydia, which I've seen growing in rock crevices on outcrops that are probably blown free of snow. Some garden bulbs from farther south do well in Fairbanks, especially Asiatic lily hybrids. Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, where winter has been nearly nonexistent so far this year. _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…