My M. officinarum seems almost indestructible in largish pots, for many years. Divide them occasionally but not a showy plant for potential sale. The fruit is better than the flowers (blue green, spring form); at least until eaten by slugs. Don't know if pets might eat it. Brian Whyer, SE UK Nils, You might be aware that the taxonomic status of M. officinarum and autumnalis is an on and off - discussion, which seems currently in favor of separate species. Anyway, mine was bought as autumnalis, but flowers in April to May for me and looks a lot like the officinarum depicted on PotW - at least southern Germany allows for an outdoor planting, maybe you could try it yourself. As nice as the lush version in Uli's picture is, I guess less lush may be more useful in the garden. Martin grew M. autumnalis from seed about 15 years ago (it was said to be easier to grow than M. officinalis, and I wanted to give a Mandrake to a friend who had asked about them after reading Harry Potter). It was easy to grow in a pot, and it flowered ok, but the plant was in no way as lush and beautiful as these. _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>