Just finished weeding the path through the center of my bulb house, heartened by a few species in flower and a great many emerging in a promising way. The bulbs are getting ready to throw a party, and I hope somebody other than yrs. truly will come. If you live nearby, write me privately (don't post to the list) if you'd like to see what can be grown in a roofed but otherwise unprotected situation in the maritime Pacific Northwest. Significant flowering should start 3 or 4 weeks from now. If I hear from enough people, there will be snacks! Coming on this early for my private delight are some crocuses, including the interesting C. alatavicus, C. veneris, and C. cyprius; the first flowering of Fritillaria karelinii, sown in 2014; a bit of yellow showing on Narcissus albimarginatus, and 4 of 5 other earliest spring Narcissus species. Gymnospermium, a tuberous dicot, is in flower both in the bulb house and in a raised bed outdoors; hope a few of you got it from the BX last summer. Today the sun emerged about noon, and I had anticipated this by watering the plants in the bulb house. A few hours of sun and a light breeze have dried the foliage so it won't go into a cold night damp. We're threatened with a deep freeze (21 F) next Wednesday and Thursday, but these plants have faced that before, some for decades. Even several fritillarias from coastal or island Greece routinely emerge and flower at this time, making me wonder if their resilience derives from some ancient time when their ancestors experienced more cold. F. striata from southern California had its foliage well developed by early January and has suffered no damage, but it comes from fairly high elevation. The Rhinopetalum fritillarias are all early, and mostly from steppe regions. Now if we can just get through to spring without an ice storm! Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> PBS Forum https://…