Refrigerator time

[Roy Herold]

Answer to dumb question: because it's so darn cold here in the winter!!!
Look at it this way: the local building code makes us bury water pipes four
feet deep to prevent freezing. The water line I have going out to my
greenhouse is 18" deep, and I have to drain it in the winter time (although
I just turned it back on last weekend). We had tons of snow last winter,
but almost none this season, and the ground has been bare.

Another reason is lack of material to experiment with. I'm not a commercial
nursery here, and don't buy in stock in sufficient quantity to be willing
to try. I go the slow but sure seed route, and will do anything just to see
that first bloom. I agree it is pretty stupid to refrigerate A. amurense
when it comes from Siberia, but it was mixed in with everything else. It's
outside now. I've finally built up sufficient quantities of consanguineum
and flavum to leave outside this winter. And sikokianum is fine if it is in
a well drained spot. I've lost more than a couple to winter wet, not winter
cold. They are normally short lived around here, anyhow, succumbing to some
kind of fungus or rot after a couple of seasons. I had one candidissimum
make it through last winter under lots of snow, but lost one, too. Other
gardeners in this area (Zone 5/6) do fine with consanguineum,
candidissimum, heterophyllum, flavum, thunbergii, ringens, jacquemontii,
and a few unknowns. Come on Jim, can't I count triphyllum and dracontium
towards the total??? Please? How about stewardsonii, which only mad
taxonomists lump with triphyllum? (Just kidding...)

And thank you, Martyn, for setting us straight on the tuber/corm issue. I
know we will do our best to use the correct terminology from now on.

--Roy Herold
North Reading, Massachusetts (One of the former British colonies)
The ground is STILL frozen, which is probably why the British got rid of it.