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Cyclamen Questions ...
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Posted by bearstate 9 CA (My Page) on Fri, Nov 2, 07 at 20:26
| The bright electric colors of Cyclamen are very appealing and their leaves are by themselves very ornate. I've been thinking for some time now about getting some for outdoors in the landscape.
Before making the investment however, I'd like to know more about their life cycle.
Are these plants long term, lasting year after year and reblooming. Or do they die after a year and need to be replanted? If so, will they reseed and resprout?
I know that they prefer shade, but have no idea what temperature ranges favor them or whether they can survive freezes, either continously active or having gone dormant.
I note that they are now coming into the big box stores for sale at this time and so, they must be accustomed to cooler temps.
Thanks for any opinions in advance.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Cyclamen Questions ...
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| bearstate, cyclamen are typical Mediterranean plants. They go dormant and lose their leaves in summer, and sprout when the days grow shorter and the rains begin. They are very durable. Mine get no summer water, and come back year after year. Many you see in the store are hybrids of the Persian cyclamen, but there are many species that do even better, such as C. hederifolia, C. coum, and C. graecium. These can be planted with the corm beneath the soil, while the hybrids need the top of the corm at the soil level. They are great fall and winter plants. |
RE: Cyclamen Questions ...
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- Posted by bahia SF Bay Area (My Page) on
Sat, Nov 3, 07 at 2:47
| The hybrid cultivars you see in the box stores in full bloom right now are less reliably perennial in the garden than the straight species varieties, but they can be perennial if they are allowed to stay dry in summer, and have excellent drainage. I don't think that Bakersfield is their ideal climate, though, and they seem to be easier as a returning perennial here along the coast. I find it easier to treat them as an annual and replace them every year, but sometimes they do like the spot they are in, and manage to overcome being watered in their dormant stage and yet still bloom again in the late fall or early spring. I have never had any of the hybrid florist types regrow from selfsown seed, although they do set plenty of seed... |
RE: Cyclamen Questions ...
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| Be sure you have good drainage or they can rot. Also, they do like a bit of sun, preferably dappled, or morning. I always buy a few every year to set in pots on the patio. I store them in their pots in a cool, dry spot and then plant them the following fall when the leaves start to emerge.
Some of them are quite fragrant, esp. en masse. Take a whiff at your local nursery. I thing the pinks have the strongest fragrance. wanda |
RE: Cyclamen Questions ...
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- Posted by youreit z9b CA Sunset z8-9 (My Page) on
Sat, Nov 3, 07 at 8:07
| I've had my white-flowered Cyclamen for about 4 years, given to me one Christmas, and probably purchased from a box store. I used to grow some in the ground, until the local chickens dug them up one year. They did very well while they lasted, though. I've kept this white one in a pot, and every fall, I repot it up into a larger container, keeping the base of the plant slightly above the soil line. It gets no sun, being on the north side of my house under the eaves, and it's reseeded into the bed below. The cold weather we had this last January (low 20s for a week) didn't seem to faze it at all. It has never gone dormant, and it blooms year round, more so in the cooler months, of course. I feed once every 2 weeks, or monthly, depending on when I remember or feel like it. :) I don't allow it to go dry, making sure to water around the base, not directly on it. Brenda |
RE: Cyclamen Questions ...
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| Thanks for the input. I found the Wiki article on Cyclamen also encouraging. Where can I get the more durable Cyclamen, ie. the hederifolia, coum or graecium? My intent is to plant them once and let them flourish continuously. I don't want to constantly replant new ones every year. I've got too many spots to put them in and at at least $3.00 per potted plant, it's not so enticing to have them as a permenant part of the landscape if they have to be redone every year. The other question regards the seasonal flowering characteristic of these plants. Autumn is fine. But what can I plant in amongst them that will bloom in Spring and Summer and automatically trade dominance in the alternate season? |
RE: Cyclamen Questions ...
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| I'm in Visalia, I have 3 of them on the northside of the house in a small flower bed and they grow year round and even bloom for me off and on all year. Mine do not die back in the summer. I planted mine last fall they are Cyclamen Persicum. |
RE: Cyclamen Questions ...
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| I have seen the small pink and white species of cyclamen in some of the bulb catalogs. Penny |
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