Cyclamen 2015

[cycnich]

Thanks for the replies. It is nice to know it is still in cultivation. I have been offered seed and leaf samples which is nice. However the general opinion is that whilst it may be subsp crassifolium it is not confusum oh well just a thought. The reason I asked the question was whilst I have many large flowered crassifolium my two extra large flowered plants are confusum from melvyns seed collected in topalia so I thought it was worth investigating from the original description. I will take up the kind offer of seed just to see if the seedlings are anything like the original description after all these years so thanks again.

[johnw]

Cyclamen purpurascens seedling with a permanent red flush in shade.  Has anyone seen this before?

johnw

[Gabriel B]

Hello, everyone. I'm a young gardener in Minnesota. I haven't posted on the forum much, but I love reading the posts. Thought I would start posting about my projects.

I was always in love with cyclamens, and enchanted by the idea of growing them outdoors. Over the last 5 years, I've grown a bunch of cyclamens from seed that I bought from Jan Bravenboer. The one I've had most success with is Cyclamen purpurascens. Now I have a decent-sized cyclamen patch, and it's just coming into bloom now. The plants have been growing outside for 1 to 3 years, and they have a big crop of seed that will be ripe in the next month. As you can see, they're thriving, despite our freezing winters with inconsistent snow cover. The leaves are frozen all winter, but if they're given winter shade, they do just fine.

The pictures are in reverse order, newest first. To see more pictures of my cyclamens, you can go to my Flickr account here.

Cyclamen bed with flowers


A bud coming up


A heavy seed set on one of the plants


The cyclamen bed in March, after the spring thaw

[Maggi Young]

That's great success you are having with Cyclamen purpurascens, Gabriel.  You'll have no shortage of extra plants with all those fat seedpods. I'm a great fan of this cyclamen too, just love the scent.

[Jupiter]

Lovely photographs Gabriel. I hope to see more.

My first Cyclamen graceum are up, seed gifted to me by Fermi.

[fermi de Sousa]

Good going, Jamus!
Plant them out when they are 2 years old; they sometimes disappear if planted out too young (good advice I received from Viv Condon!) and they should love your conditions,
cheers
fermi

[Gabriel B]

Maggi, I'm overjoyed with how much seed I'll be getting. It's a great resource to make use of. I'll grow much of it in trays. The best leaf forms (or most vigorous plants) will be planted out at Gardens of Rice Creek to accompany the rhododendrons under the oak canopy. Other seedlings will be grown in pots and sold at the nursery, and some seed will go to a grower who is interested in trying this species. And I'll see what else I can do to popularize this species in Minnesota. Most people are surprised when they hear I'm growing cyclamens outdoors in our harsh climate, because they've only heard of the florist's cyclamen. Even the experts at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum haven't planted any cyclamens. It's a shame because they're such a treasure, with beauty year-round.

Here's a picture showing the lovely twisted petals.

[Gabriel B]

My European cyclamens are still blooming like crazy, and I've been noticing the different flower shapes and colors. Not many people talk about the flower variation within Cyclamen purpurascens, so I thought I'd post pictures illustrating the flower forms. Some of them resemble other cyclamen species.

1. Very long, twisted, and spreading petals, somewhat like Cyclamen repandum
2. Almost pink petals
3. Wider and only slightly twisted petals, deep purple
4. Flowers with a very wide nose and auricles (as in the new edition of Grey-Wilson's Cyclamen book!), somewhat like Cyclamen hederifolium
5. Very short and twisted petals, somewhat like Cyclamen coum

[Anthony Darby]

Thinks these files are too large for me to see the whole picture on the screen. Here is a cyclamen photographed down at Bill Dijk's nursery hear Tauranga. What species?

[Roma]

A persicum hybrid ?

[Melvyn Jope]

I think C. persicum hybrid too Roma.

[Anthony Darby]

Thanks. The leaves are amazing. The flowers almost spoil the effect. 

[Otto Fauser]

Anthony  , I think it is one of the many dwarf C. persicum cultivars available in the trade lately - NOT a Hybrid .

[Roma]

Thanks for the correction, Otto.  I should know they are cultivars and not hybrids as they are bred from a single species.

Cyclamen purpurascens started flowering as the last Cyclamen repandum faded but not many flowers at a time so no pictures of the pink ones.

Cyclamen purpurascens forma album - not very floriferous.  3 flowers at a time is about as good as it gets
Cyclamen colchicum

[David Nicholson]

I don't know if I should regard this as the end of this season or the beginning of the next! Cyclamen  africanum, that lives on the windowsill of the spare bedroom. Re-potted a couple of weeks ago and given (as I usually do with all my Cyclamen when re-potting) some water.