cyclamen

I wanted to show my cyclamen. I think they're great plants which people often overlook.
They have a 'contrary' cycle, which means they're just coming to life now.
Bare stems arise seemingly out of nowhere with the white or pink blooms.
The foliage will come up even later in the fall and will persist thru winter,
before going dormant in the spring.
It's so nice to see something popping freshly into bloom now,
when the season is otherwise getting a little bedraggled.
They like to be dry in winter, easily accomplished by planting at base of thirsty shrubs or trees.
Mine are at the base of a red maple which has a really dense superficial root system.
They're small in stature; mine are planted right by the front door, so I can't miss them.
You can see how many flowering stems there are; very floriferous.

Must be nice to still have some. All of mine died from last winter...

Yours are pretty though.

I have some too (hederifolium) planted last year. Of course it rains a lot here in the winter, I have planted them under trees on a slope, they survived so far. Hopefully that will be dry enough. Nice to have something blooming now.

Delightful! Will be adding those cuties to my path in the woods....thanks for your post Scott

I found out yesterday that a couple of my cyclamen have made it and have begun to bloom. I was pretty excited as I thought last winter had done them in for sure. So far, I only see that two corms have made it.

Sequoiadendron, I am sorry to see that you lost your cyclamen last winter. I must say it has been a rough winter :(

Have you tried Cyclamen Coum? It is quite hardy (zones 4-8).

https://www.jardins-sans-secret.com/detail/4522/Cyclamen-Coum-Persian-Violet.html

The coums are the spring bloomers right? Those are the ones I've lost for sure. The hederifoliums are blooming now. I have three left but I think they've lost vigor from last year.

Cyclamen coum blooms late winter/early spring around here.
My white ones above are c. hederifolium Album.
My label says the pink ones are supposed to be c. repandum,
but I'm sceptical since it's supposed to bloom in spring. Not sure what they are...

Ok, that's what I thought about the coum. Mine are dead. Once I get more dry shade, I'll probably revisit cyclamen in general but most of my shade is moist/average including where my remaining cyclamen are.

Someone gave me a cyclamen purchased in a store. It looks like the hardy kind good to -40F but I rather doubt that. I read up on the soil it likes and have repotted it. It is blooming now and has been since around August. Well, it almost died, then I watered it and now it is blooming again and looks great. I feel it wants to live here so if IT is then I am all for trying. But not enough to have confidence in leaving it out of doors, even planted in the ground.

I read they should be well watered then let go dry. I figure when the leaves or flower stems begin to droop a bit then it is time to water again. I even filled the dish underneath with aquarium stones as it is supposed to drain better that way. And put diatomaceous earth (that white stuff that is supposed to repel slugs) on top of the pot all around and about 1/2" deep. Also was recommended.

I don't know much about cyclamen care as houseplants, sorry.
As for those out in the yard, I have lots of trees with thirsty roots.
Cyclamen are perfect nestled amongst their roots.
The tree roots suck all the moisture out keeping the cyclamen dry just like they want.
We don't have tons of snow, so I suspect my ground is drier in winter than in AK.

Thanks. That at least gives me an idea of what kind of moisture they need.

Are the Cyclamen ok with having only rain for moisture year-round (that is, will they success where there is no supplemental watering) -- I thought I recalled that they like it moist some seasons, and dry others.

I think natural water is all that is necessary for them Happ.

Maybe I'll try it in the very dry area back behind our house.

I might buy one at the store then plant it in the yard. I don't want to risk the one my DIL gave me but don't mind throwing $10-12 at an experiment on cyclamen hardiness.

Mary, if you buy one that's in a pot from a greenhouse, it will die outside. They usually put these ones out around Christmas or so here. The greenhouse ones are not hard unless you live in a much warmer zone like ~8+. Now I have seen them sold as a bare corm and those should grow fine outside.

Seq: Did you find an inexpensive source? My sense is they are quite pricey.

Yeah, check out www.edelweissperennials.com

They have a nice selection and while you're there you may as well check out their epimedium offerings.