Thanks! So you are starting the elephant ears this early? Do they prefer a plastic pot or a peat pot? My bench mark for starting dahlias has always been late March/early April. Too soon, and they get too leggy. I tried making cuttings one year, and none of them made it. But then I am rotten at rooting any kind of cutting. I think it might be excess chlorine in my water. At my old house I did fine. At least that's my story. Though I get roots, they never transition to planting. Last year was my first for caladiums. I started them in flats indoors but they did absolutely nothing until it was warm outside. I'd like to have them earlier, so I am thinking about setting up a swing arm lamp on a timer to give them daytime warmth. They were so great I just have to have them again. I went to the store just to see if they had the ones I liked so much last year ; "White Christmas", in the event mine are dead. But they didn't have any of the ones I grew last year. I will have to bring mine up and see if they are all dried out. If they are lightweight they are goners? I checked the tuberous begonias in the same box; they are all firm and look fine.

I have always heard/read that they were only hardy to zone 7. What may have happened is that they may be in a microclimate where you have them planted...that is it is warmer there in the winter than in other parts of your property. Microclimates usually are the first areas to have the snow melt off in the winter/spring. I have one patio dahlia, that is planted in a bed on the south side of the house, next to the brick wall. It has survived being left in the ground for probably 4 winters. I have never noticed before, but imagine it might be a small microclimate area. Sue...chemocurl

The new computer files all pictures by the date. The dates are all nonsense. It seems to be something made up in collusion with the camera (LOL). The old computer let me file wherever I liked. I would upload then tranfer or copy pictures into folders with the kind of plant, etc. This one makes everything go in a folder with that date. I can rename the picture (though I never seem to do them all, maybe I just take too many) and I do, but finding it again is a problem: when I close it goes back into a mythical date folder. Your suggestion, Ken, gives me the idea of putting the date as part of the title. That would at least solve part of the problem. I donÂt upload all that often either so might not remember the date I took it, but I could be close. There is probably a sort function which I need to explore too. What I really need to do is take the time to figure the system out and make it do what I want, which I have not done. ItÂs probably some default setting I need to uncover and change. I should start keeping a log. I did, of bloom times, but never did one for emergence. I did mean true lilies, Lilium, I should have been specific. Asiatics-orientals-orienpets-etc. My daylilies, my hemerocallis, are already up. There is enough left at the surface that I never worry about where they are. ItÂs the true lilies that do weird things sometimes like send up a stem at an angle, not above the bulb, that I have to worry about. In the last few years I have bought so many that they are shoehorned in all over the place. I tagged everything last fall but about ¼ are missing. Some squirrel must have built himself a nice house of plastic knives. Nice to "see" you on here too, Ken! Pitimpinai is a little south of me. If she sees hers in mid-April it'll probably be mid-April for me too. Thanks, everyone.

JPW: If you check the hardiness for the specific hybrids, then you can plant based on the hardiness. For the Dutch Hydrids, which are usually hardy in zone 8b: I wouldn't be overly concerned about planting them too early. In San Antonio, they are routinely transplanted around Thanksgiving. Last winter, the average temp for January was 49 degrees. I think we had about 15 days of frost last winter. 36 hours of freezing rain. Our lowest temp was 24 degrees, which occured in Feb. Mine bloomed shortly after Easter. I'm not familiar with the other hybrids. But I know that the African hybrids are supposed to be more tender than the Dutch. If you are able to get hardiness on the other hybrids and if it is zone 9 or less, then these are plants that are able to tolerate temperatures in the 20's for a short length of time. Being from Wisconsin orginally, I'm thinking the later part of April would be OK for zone 8/ 9 plants. If it is zone 10, then it is a plant that is not frost tolerant and for those you should "wait until all danger of frost has passed".