Cyclamen

[FB.]

I'm curious...

Do you grow them?
Which varieties do you grow?
Are they in the garden? In a greenhouse?

I have hundreds of them in the garden, mostly hederifolium but also some cilicium, persicum, coum and mirabile.

Persicum aren't supposed to be frost-hardy but those in my garden are the survivors of a batch which were planted years ago where around 10 - 20% survived and the survivors self-seeded.
The persicum, cilicium and mirabile seem to prefer sun-baked and ridiculously dry spots where it's so dry in summer that even the weeds die.
The coum seem to like the duller, damper spots.
Hederifolium seem to be a Jack of all trades.

Hederifolium flowers in autumn, cilicium is a few weeks later, persicum in winter, coum in early spring. From September to March there is almost always a Cyclamen of some sort in flower.

So, what do you have?

[Nicos]

I posted a piccie of mine last year and recall someone said they are hederifolium ?.

https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...43#post2509543

so easy to grow….they seem to thrive on neglect!

[Snoop Puss]

^That sounds like something I could try! Do you reckon they'd survive in our conditions, Nicos?

[quanglewangle]

[... ] so easy to grow….they seem to thrive on neglect!

My kind of plants. Will look in to them

[FB.]

^That sounds like something I could try! Do you reckon they'd survive in our conditions, Nicos?

What are the conditions? Soil? Climate?

Cyclamen hederifolium are the most tolerant of a wide range of conditions, although not necessarily the best in all situations.

[Nicos]

^That sounds like something I could try! Do you reckon they'd survive in our conditions, Nicos?

Not sure tbh….FB can probably advise you better.

Mine are on a south facing rockery in full shade of a sycamore tree during the summer but full winter sun.
I never water mine but I guess that there will be some need to keep the corms from getting waterlogged in the winter or drying out too much in the summer.
They have survived several nights of -18C without protection over the years,

The only way or knowing for sure I suppose is to give it a try.

[ameno]

I have a few hederifolium, including one massive one 15 or more years old with a corm the size of a side plate.

I also have one potted persicum I bought this September. Like you, I always thought they were frost tender, but I read more recently that they are actually hardy to about -3, so I'm trying out leaving mine out on my patio over winter, which is very sheltered, anyway.

[Snoop Puss]

What are the conditions? Soil? Climate?

Cyclamen hederifolium are the most tolerant of a wide range of conditions, although not necessarily the best in all situations.

Soil tends towards high pH. Clay ameliorated with sheep and goat muck in veg growing areas. Could muck elsewhere if necessary for flowers.

Climate goes from very cold in winter to very hot in summer. It used to be much colder, but now warmer though very cold periods are possible (lowest recorded minus 17 ºC in a very exposed spot, up by the house much warmer, minus 9 ºC in the previous years; now lows of probably minus 5 ºC around the house, but usually only for short spells). Wild iris tubers that have spread naturally and are quite close to the surface or even exposed survive in cold spots survive, though they don't flower every year.

We have some large patches of currently uncultivated land up near the house that tend towards scrubby grass. Not very attractive. I'm looking for plants that can cope with limited amount of watering, as we don't have vast quantities of water to spare. Cyclamen appeal because they have very attractive leaves as well as flowers.

[peanut]

I bought some Hederifolium and Coum in the Crocus sale and planted them on 30th November. Be lovely if they appear at some point this year.

[mothhawk]

I have lots of hederifolium. started with three about 40 years ago and they've multiplied and spread. I tend to shuck the seeds into my hand then chuck them around the garden, so they come up in unexpected places, even between paving slabs. I shall have to thin them out soon as they are taking over my small garden a bit. Mostly they are growing under a dwarf lilac and under the shelter of the peonies.

[Gearoid]

I have lots of hederifolium spreading around around which I love as it's such a low maintenance plant. I also have some coum which do well but haven't spread as much. I mainly have them growing under a hedge and a camelia.

[FB.]

Soil tends towards high pH. Clay ameliorated with sheep and goat muck in veg growing areas. Could muck elsewhere if necessary for flowers.

Climate goes from very cold in winter to very hot in summer. It used to be much colder, but now warmer though very cold periods are possible (lowest recorded minus 17 ºC in a very exposed spot, up by the house much warmer, minus 9 ºC in the previous years; now lows of probably minus 5 ºC around the house, but usually only for short spells). Wild iris tubers that have spread naturally and are quite close to the surface or even exposed survive in cold spots survive, though they don't flower every year.

We have some large patches of currently uncultivated land up near the house that tend towards scrubby grass. Not very attractive. I'm looking for plants that can cope with limited amount of watering, as we don't have vast quantities of water to spare. Cyclamen appeal because they have very attractive leaves as well as flowers.

Sorry for late reply.
My suspicion is that too wet a climate is more likely to kill them than frost.
I would say that the hardy types (hederifolium and coum) are probably to -15'C, maybe more.
They don't seem to be too fussy about soil fertility or pH.

In my garden, hederifolium, persicum and cilicium are happy growing in spots which are so dry and sunbaked in the summer that not even weeds survive, as long as it gets some dampness in winter.
Coum seems to prefer spots which are less dry and less sunbaked in the summer.

I even have some hederifolium, persicum and cilicium tight up against the dry brick wall of my garage, with gutter overhang. It's very dry there even in winter while they're growing. Once established, they can survive with no watering and no feeding.

[FB.]

I also have one potted persicum I bought this September. Like you, I always thought they were frost tender, but I read more recently that they are actually hardy to about -3, so I'm trying out leaving mine out on my patio over winter, which is very sheltered, anyway.

My surviving persicum have tolerated -8'C in recent years in a free-draining spot which is reasonably sheltered. Others planted in damper or more exposed spots suffered much higher mortaility.
Many of the casualties seemed to develop a black fuzzy mould (botrytis?) on their leaves after cold wet spells in winter which ultimately spread through the plants and rotted the tubers.
Not many seemed to die from being frozen compared to dying from fungal attack, even -5'C most nights and 0'C during the day for a week.

I should add that persicum seem hugely more susceptible to the black fuzzy mould than hederifolium, coum, cilicium etc.

[Snoop Puss]

I really like cyclamen. My dad used to grow and mollycoddle them. I thought they would be too delicate for me to grow here. Sounds like they could do very well, though.

Thanks for starting this thread and following up, FB.

[FB.]

I really like cyclamen. My dad used to grow and mollycoddle them. I thought they would be too delicate for me to grow here. Sounds like they could do very well, though.

Thanks for starting this thread and following up, FB.

Cyclamen, especially hederifolium, are very tough plants which don't need any care after they're established.

In my experience, planting bulbs bought from shops is highly variable in its success rate; often few or none grow and viability seems to drop rapidly the longer they have been out of the ground. The best time to plant bulbs if you fancy a gamble is around September.

Live plants are much more successful than bulbs but they tend to be expensive. The cheap plants outside discount stores in autumn are usually C. persicum and most will die in the cold and wet of winter.

Cyclamen coum in particular doesn't establish well if planted as bulbs. All of the C. coum in my garden came from live plants; hundreds of coum bulbs from different suppliers over several years resulted in not one plant.