I am so happy to find this post. I have almost the opposite problem - I live in the hot wet tropics, never cold. I purchased some Crocus (Saffron) corms (was very expensive here so trying to not make mistakes). I put them in my veggie drawer in the refrigerator (all fruits removed from fridge) at 3C/37F. I read that they must have a cold period of at least 15 weeks to have a proper healthy bloom. After being in the fridge less than 3 weeks, each are having a white sprout coming out the top, but no roots. So do: 1. Ignore and wait the 15 weeks (will they starve to death?) or 2. Plant now (they are going in a pot) being very careful not to break the tender shoots and water only once until green shoots emerge from the soil? Thank you so much for the help, Christa

If they are still in the house they will be OK for a week. You will have to provide some light if you are going to keep them there until April. Al

Melissa - even though you are so far away, I think you and Christina and I live in similar Mediterranean climates - your stories sound so familiar! We had a LOT of rain here in the North San Francisco Bay area in Nov/Dec, then practically none until a week ago. In the last 6 days we got almost 6 inches of rain! Now they tell us we are back up to our "normal to date" amount of rain for this date. The garden is sodden, of course, but it has been showing signs of Spring for weeks already. After years of having all of my daffodils lying on the ground because of our not uncommon strong Jan/Feb rain storms, I learned to only buy short sturdy types (and ones that don't need winter freeze to repeat). So, we actually have clumps of daffodils that have bloomed all through the storms, and are still upright - it is such a lovely sight. I wish more people grew hellebores! I agree with both of you - they are so fresh and lovely at this time of year. I have two very shady areas where they grow - every year I try to plant more. This year for whatever reason I did not take off last year's leaves, or feed them, or weed around them, and to my surprise they didn't care at all, and are all blooming madly (and have been for at least 3 weeks) and look lovely, shining out from their shadows. All of the fruit trees are blooming now, and the acacia, which are all over the hills and in every vacant lot around here. The acacia start first in Jan, and then are joined by the pink or white fruit blossoms - they look lovely together. In my garden we have lots of volunteer plum trees blooming. Also an ancient flowering crab apple, which has put out leaves and is covered with flower buds - I can't wait for it to bloom. The camellias (four huge old plants) are blooming now. Two of them are in a bed which used to be underneath a 5 story tall 40 foot across eugenie tree we just had taken out last month. They had been unhappy as the tree got bigger and denser over the last few years - after they stop blooming I am going to cut them back, feed them, and see what happens this summer when it gets really hot and sunny - I hope they are able to survive. We left the tree stump 2 feet high, and have plans to put a half wine barrel on top of it (it is at least 5 feet in diameter) and plant trailing flowers in it. Our local flowering "weeds" are also in full bloom - everyone's garden (especially mine) is full of our common yellow oxalis - it turns vast areas yellow with its pretty flowers, although it has to be pulled up so as not to smother everything! Another Mediterranean plant which has naturalized here is valerian - all three colors of it - the white, darker raspberry pink, and the redder pink. It covers hillsides at the side of the freeways and roads, and at the coast along the cliffs next to the beaches, and comes up uninvited in everyone's garden. I just cut it back to about 4 inches high every Fall/Winter and enjoy it (after a campaign to dig it all up and get rid of it failed miserably one year). Our old antique iris are all up & blooming - they are mid sized bearded, and the most velvety dark purple color. Every year they bloom from Jan through almost the entire summer. The iris foetida are also blooming right now, although their small greenish flowers are not showy. In the Fall they make up for it by covering themselves with seed pods that burst open like flowers and show their red seeds. Of course, the old tea and china roses never stop blooming, and I am still (when it is not pouring) able to cut enough to make nice arrangements for the table. Some of them are actually starting their Spring bloom already - Madame Alfred Carriere has burst into bloom 25 feet up an old plum tree. Our banksie lutea, which was cut back about 70 percent last year so we could paint the house, has put out all sorts of new canes, and is covered with buds. Happy Spring! Jackie

What I do when I have multiple rooted cuttings in one pot is turn the pot upside down and put the whole mass ( less the pot) on a grate ( do this outside, of course). Then gently run water over the mass with a garden hose until all of the soil has washed away and all that is left is the tangled mess of rooted cuttings. Now you can easily separate the cuttings, being as gentle as you can. Repot the cuttings. New leaves might go into shock and fall off but all cuttings will come back. Actually, I did three containers of cuttings this way about a month ago (each had about 6 or 7 heavily rooted cuttings )and all of the young leaves stayed in tact and all plants are doing just fine.