Growing Cyclamen

Would you like to grow cyclamen successfully? Are you looking for information on how to grow the kind of cyclamen that will survive winter in the garden? Do you wonder how to keep your cyclamen healthy as houseplants?

Hardy species in the garden

It is an excellent time to start now. Begin with the easiest species - Cyclamen hederifolium. In September most varieties of this species will be in full flower, but not all of them - the island forms often flower a month later.

"Oh I didn't realise how good they look in groups" is typical of the remarks people make when the come upon mature cyclamen plants established in the garden. C. hederifolium tubers gradually increase in size until they reach tea-plate or even dinner-plate proportions. And every year the plants self sow. In time a drift of cyclamen flowers will spread under shrubs and trees, along the foot of a hedge, or at the side of a path, in much the same way as crocuses.

Getting started

At this time of year you might like to purchase plants in pots already in flower. They can be very tempting when neatly potted up for sale with a top-dressing of tiny pebbles or stone chippings. Jewel colours on delicate flowers draw me to inspect them closer - even when I have hundreds of similar ones at home.

If you are very careful you will be able to knock them out of their pots with out damaging the fibrous root system. Protect the very fragile flower buds with your hand. You may prefer to let the plant finish flowering before transplanting into the garden.

By beginning with a few plants, rather than lots of seedlings, you will be able to discover cyclamen "likes" and "dislikes". Strictly speaking plants can't like anything. But believe me cyclamen will soon let you know if they don't feel comfortable where you plant them! Choose a semi-shady spot and try to make sure the compost or soil is well drained. Cyclamen grow in most fertile soils but in a very heavy clay soil it is a good idea to dig in some grit before planting to aid the drainage.

Watering and drainage

Take care not to over-water cyclamen, for this really is the secret - get the watering right and you will have no difficulty in growing them. A free-draining compost or soil suits cyclamen. Master the drainage requirements and you will be well on the way to becoming an expert. Water should never linger on the top of the pot, nor should the potted plant be left standing in water for days.

Light and shade

Cyclamen hederifolium plants will grow in sun or in shade; they are surprisingly adaptable. But where there is a choice, dappled shade such as is found under trees and shrubs will suit autumn-flowering species.

All-year-round interest

Cyclamen hederifolium foliage acts as ground cover for most of the twelve months; flowers are a bonus from late summer into autumn, and other species can be added to the garden for a succession of flowering plants throughout the year.

Flowers for winter

Cyclamen coum flower buds are already showing above ground level. I expect many of them to be in flower just after Christmas. It is a good time to introduce new ones. I keep an assorted group of varieties of this species in a cold greenhouse, although they are perfectly hardy outside without cover of any sort. It is possible to brush frost off cyclamen in pots on paving outside and take them to shows.

Why do I keep C. coum plants in a greenhouse if they are hardy? I find that even on rainy days the various leaf patterns and flower colours can be enjoyed in comfort. And it is fascinating to raise seedlings. A proportion of the offspring has silver foliage. They are easy to pick out amongst their plain-leaf siblings. Varieties are available with white, pink, carmine or crimson blooms. My choice includes silver-leaf with ruby red flowers; silver-leaf with white flowers, or carmine flowers with dull green foliage. But the type with dark green glossy foliage is also attractive.

In the garden I gain pleasure also from a patch of C.coum (glossy leaf type) naturalised beneath rhododendron. The plants battle away to hold their positions against annual weeds and stray bird-sown C. hederifolium, but as the latter is the stronger growing species, in time it would take over the former if allowed to do so. Both are charming but C. coum is slightly harder to establish in the garden.

Cyclamen cilicium is similarly slightly trickier to grow in the open garden. It does better when kept in a greenhouse or when planted in a fairly sunny site - a raised bed suits it well enough. C. purpurascens responds particularly well to good drainage and a warm sheltered spot. All the above species are worth cultivating for their decorative foliage as well as for their flowers.

Read more about hardy cyclamen in this website - C. libanoticum (Feb/March flowering), C.parviflorum (Feb/March flowering) C.purpurascens (summer flowering), C.trochopteranthum (Feb/March flowering), C.repandum (April/May flowering) coming soon.

Tender species to grow as houseplants

This week I have been potting on my best form of C.rohlfsianum - until recently considered to be the "penny black" of the cyclamen world, and still a choice and sought after species - more expensive than persicum and just as easy to grow. This is the usual time to repot - when the plants are coming out of dormancy and before the buds have grown to more than an inch or so high. I found a clay pot a fraction larger and settled it gently into its new home.

Other species that are generally raised in a frost proof glasshouse or alpine house in Britain include C. africanum, C. creticum, and C. cyprium.

Winter and spring flowers

Sow a packet of Cyclamen persicum. This is the species from which many of our houseplant cyclamen have been bred. The cultivated varieties in mixed packets of jewel-bright colours are to be seen in supermarkets. They are highly decorative but as they are not hardy, they will not survive winter in Britain without protection from frost. Sow the seed in a light, gritty compost that is slightly alkaline. For single seedlings in pots, I am experimenting with Jiffy coir 7's. I shall let you know my findings in a later article. Germination should readily occur at a temperature of 64F. Note that too warm will inhibit germination. Keep the compost moist rather than waterlogged wet, and remember to leave the tuber just above compost level when seedlings are potted on later. In contrast, hardy cyclamen are buried below compost level.

There are scented, or frilly, large-flowering persicum varieties, or mini scented varieties if you prefer daintier plants that take less space on the shelf.

Windowsill gardening

It is possible to grow C. persicum from seed to flowering size as a houseplant. The whole life cycle can be completed on a windowsill. Flowers will bloom and drop; seed capsules form, swell to marble size, ripen and release fertile seeds: all on a windowsill. Then if you sow these seeds, seedlings will grow and produce flowers - sometimes of a different colour from the parent, depending on the genetical composition.

A light windowsill that is frost-free, good drainage, and careful watering, are key factors in the cultivation of C. persicum as a houseplant.