Polly, I think the grower/sources drop their temperature gradually to 28/29 F during winter vernalization and storage, then at some point prior to shipping, they slowly begin raising the temperature in preparation for shipping. For short term--like the boxes I receive now, if I have to hold them, I do at 33-35F because if they've started a process of waking up, I try not to reverse it, just suspend it. The point that Leftwood made about condensation is one I completely overlooked and a very good one, indeed. Because even with opening the box for visual inspection and all looks OK in the individual bags, there may still be a hidden potential problem within ( a bulb--such as I got.) . I think individual bags should be opened some to vent during temporary short term storage.
I'm waiting on a single box from Canada (its always the last one), then the fun starts!
