Hello Laura, Gladiolus and Watsonia cannot be compared. I assume you are writing about summer growing and winter dormant gladiolus, right? As far as I understand, your climate is continental with warm summers and cold winters but with a reliable deep snow cover. The snow enables the gladiolus to survive in the ground as it is a perfect insulation. Watsonia to my knowledge are either winter growing or evergreen, I am not aware of a summer growing and winter dormant, deciduous species. Is there anybody out there who can correct me? Then this would be the Watsonia for you to try. Obviously the winter growing ones cannot be grown in your climate and the evergreen ones do not like it when their foliage gets frosted regularly. The Watsonia you see in climates like San Francisco is the weedy W. bulbilifera, but of course you see the good ones as well in garden settings. But then the climate of San Francisco is something very special I envy the local gardeners for...... Have you tried growing Watsonia in large containers? They are not the best plants for container gardens but this way you may be able to enjoy them. But you would need a greenhouse for the winter. Does this help? Uli _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…