Cyclamen 2010

[Rogan]

Ah Cyclamen! I was a young boy in hospital when my mother brought me a cerise cyclamen in a pot - it wasn't anything special, just a commercial variety, but to me it made a great impression and a life-long love of plants developed as the result. Now I grow a small selection of species in pots and still look forward to the appearance of their exotic leaves and magnificent flowers every season. I do not grow many with extremely silvery leaves, but have to admit that they are really striking little plants!   

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

Some Cyclamen persicum variants that I have purchased this year at local nurseries.  Some of them have the most beautiful perfume.  The Ruffled ones are something I haven't seen before, with serrated leaves and ruffled flowers but in a mid size plant, not quite species size but nothing like as big as the big "florist" type you get here.  All of these ones are that smaller type, with more elegance than the larger ones.  I rather like the "good leaf" one, which was a new leaf variant in the shops here this year and can be bought in a range of colours, all with a good silver leaf with green edge.  Rather a striking combination, whatever the flower colour.  

Not a brilliant background, I realise, but the main idea was to show you the plants. 

[Paul T]

And a couple of pics of flowers on a Cyclamen coum.  So cool up close. 

[cohan]

Forgotten to post

the leave from Cyclamen hederifolium Arrow Shape Silver Leaved

Roland

beautiful!

[Lesley Cox]

Apart from my non-seeding C. cilicium which still has a few flowers (it started in early February!) this is my only plant in flower at present. Like Paul's it's one of the smaller florists' persicums and is on the bathroom windowsill, where it's very cool (west side of the house. VERY cool as the heater came to a stop on Monday and Roger hasn't fixed it yet ) But the cool conditions really suit the cyclamen unlike the ones on the kitchen windowsill which get heated every morning by the sun and have to be watered every second day. Oh yes, they're in flower too, 5 of them, but not as elegant as this one. When I go into the bathroom the scent hits me in the face. It's very strong. In 4 weeks, not a single flower has died off and many more are coming.

[Lesley Cox]

A couple of my coums from the Pewter Group are showing a little colour but generally, they're all a few weeks away yet. More spring than winter flowering here.

[Roma]

I still have flowers on Cyclamen creticum, Cyclamen repandum, rhodium peloponnesiacum and rhodium vividum.
A Cyclamen intaminatum has produced a few flowers rather early. The deformed flowers are due to aphid damage.
Is this Cyclamen africanum trying to tell me it needs a bigger pot?

[bulborum]

The first Cyclamen purpurescens in flower
Hundreds in flower   
when you walk in the tunnel  mmmmmm
what a perfume        

Roland

[Maggi Young]

Is this Cyclamen africanum trying to tell me it needs a bigger pot?

It certainly looks like that, Roma.... if you are short of a good large clay pot then tell me what size the cyclamen would prefer and I'll see what I have for you and you can collect it sometime when you are in town. 

[Roma]

Thanks Maggi.  I do have some big pots and think I have one large enough.  It's finding the time to do something about it.  I'd love to take it to the Discussion weekend but it always flowers too early and the leaves, though huge aren't attractive enough for the foliage class.

Nice purpurascens, Roland.  I can almost smell them from here.  Mine are beginning to flower too, but not in hundreds.

[johnw]

Is this Cyclamen africanum trying to tell me it needs a bigger pot?

Roma - Your picture reminded me to collect seed here. I went out to find my 10" pot cracked on both sides as well!

johnw

[Lesley Cox]

What amazing power some plants are able to exert on their solid material containers. Look at the way many weeds will split a concrete path, and Roma's cyclamen is a good example of this "grow regardless of the surroundings" ability. I had a Weldenia which split a strong hypertufa tub so that the four sides could be lifted neatly away from the plant (the only occupant) and I also have a large plant of Salvia microphylla in a very large hypertufa tub, it too, split entirely from top to bottom at the four corners. It doesn't fall away because the roots and stems have grown through the cracks, binding everything together.

[Rogan]

If I really, really had to choose a favorite Cyclamen this would have to be it - C. greacum in flower towards the end of March this year:

[Paul T]

Wow Rogan, that is a beautifully elegant twisted petal form, isn't it?  The petals remind me of my rohlfsianum, which have that full twist like that.  I don't think I've seen any other Cyclamen like that until now.  I just love graecum, such a cool (and easy) species.  

[bulborum]

A mass of perfume and in full flower
Cyclamen purpurescens
now not hundreds but thousands flowers
hundreds of plants in flower
and with this temperature
pity for you with the computer you can't smell this

Roland