The writer remembers the astonishment of seeing Crinum campanulatum growing and flowering well in pools in a most unbulb-like manner in South Africa. The pools gradually dry up during the summer and the mud then provides ideal germinating conditions for the fleshy seeds while the dormant bulbs nestle cosily in the baked mud and patiently wait for the winter rains before starting growth again. Similarly in Turkey Colchicum szovitsii and Crocus gargaricus both flower abundantly in squelchy meadows, often in pools of water-conditions that contradict totally the conventional "well-drained compost" of the books. Both, however, undergo the other part of the normal bulb recipe, "the summer baking", in nature, but luckily, in cultivation, do not insist on being saturated when in growth! The purpose of this chapter is not to provide a treatise on the cultivation of bulbous plants-nor would it be remotely possible to deal adequately with the many hundreds of species that can be obtained and grown. It is a selection of some of those for which the writer has a personal liking together with a number of uncommon species that are ignored by most nurserymen dealing with bulbous plants but are nevertheless attractive and easy to grow. As the value to individual gardeners will depend in some cases on the garden conditions they can provide, I have also grouped those requiring more or less similar treatment together. These categories should be regarded merely as guides, for many species will grow very satisfactorily in several different garden situations. As will be realised, the popular daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and lilies are not considered in this brief survey. For general cultivation Perhaps the most satisfactory for general cultivation are those bulbous plants that, given good soil drainage, a reasonably fertile soil and an open position will flower and increase happily without more care than would be given to any ordinary herbaceous plant. The stately crown imperial, Fritillaria imperialis, native from Turkey to the western Himalayas is a most effective early border plant, but is a gross feeder and may not flower on poor, sandy soils unless its appetite is assuaged by top dressings of well-rotted manure or the equivalent each season. In April the 3ft(im) flower stems are topped with whorls of pendent, bell-shaped orange, red or yellow waxy-petalled blooms each 2 to 3in(5 to 8cm) across. In the border it is best placed where its rapidly dying foliage is hidden behind the growth of a later-flowering neighbour. Uncommon but equally hardy is the closely related, March-flowering F. raddeana from Iran and nearby areas of the USSR. It differs in its more slender habit and more open pale yellow, green-tinted blooms. In recent years a very vigorous form of F. persica known as 'Adiyaman' has become available and makes a fine clump in the border with 10 to 20 dark-hued, plum-purple flowers on 3ft(im) stems.