Cyclamen - Lets get elegant!

Elegant flowers in shades of pink, mauve, crimson or white rise above rounded or heart-shaped leaves, often finely marbled with silver or white. We both love our Cyclamens and both have them growing in our gardens - I have favoured the Cyclamen for my borders where I have a few bare spaces against my rockery.

The flowers have reflexed petals, gracefully curved backwards, and many are fragrant. By carefully selecting species according to flowering period, these beautiful, lowe growing plants can be in bloom during most months of the year, and their patterned foliage sustains a long period of interest. Not all are hardy but several of the finest are fully hardy, flowering even in the depths of winter.

The hardy Cyclamen are excellent for naturalising in groups among trees and shrubs. They thrive in sun or part shade. A border devoted to one species can be an interesting and colourful feature in the garden. Cyclamen are also good for pockets in a rock garden (like mine) or for growing in troughs and containers. The less hardy types are perfect for pot culture in an unheated greenhouse.

The rootstock of the Cyclamen plant is a tuber, with leaves and flowers borne from the upper surface. Dried tubers are often sold, but planting is more successful from plants 'in the green' - growing in pots - as the tubers can dry out too much.

There are 20 species, which are mainly native to central and S Europe, the Mediterranean and Turkey eastwards to the Caucasus and N Iran.

Recommended Species and Varieties
C. Africanum
C.Cilicium
C. Album
C. Europaeum
C. Graceum
C. Hederifolium
C. Intaminatum
C. Latifolium
c. Libanoticum
C. Mirabile
C. Neapolitanum
C. Persicum
C. Pseudibericum
C. Purpurascens
C. Repandum
C. Trohopteranthum

Propogation
Sow seed as soon as it is ripe - in mid to late summer. Older, dried seed germinates eventually, particularly if given a soak in warm water for 12 hours before sowing. Place the sown pots in complete darkness to speed germinatation and move them into the light as soon as germination has occurred. Prick out the seedlings when the first true leaf appears. Alternatively, leave the pots for a year, then prise the small tubers apart and pot them up individually.

Pests and Diseases
The prime pests of Cyclamen are aphids, vine weevils and root eelworms. Diseases include bacterial rot of the tubers and virus diseases; in these cases infected plants should be destroyed. Grey mould may attack fading flowers or leaves, especially autumn and winter. Any portion infected should be removed to prevent the spread of the disease to other parts of the plant, especially the others surrounding it.

Have you got any Cyclamens growing in your garden - any other tips you want to share that we have missed? Please do tell us :)

Cyclamen Tip
Never water your Cyclamen from the top, always water and let the Cyclamen drink from the bottom - otherwise you may kill him!