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!

Choosing your garden plants

Plants for dry sun
Many grasses like dry, sunny conditions. Big, clump forming Miscanthus sinesis 'Variegatus' is a handsome architectural plant for a dry border.

Any garden benefits from having a good mixture of plants, both in terms of height and shape, and in the variety of foliage and flower form and colour. However, it is surprising how much diversity and interest you can create without flower colour.

Plants for shady parts of the garden will inevitably major on leaf form and shape; plants for full sun will have more flower power. Make sure that you choose those that do well for these differing situations, and look, too, at the soil conditions. Some plants prefer acid soil, others alkaline.

Rhododendrons and azaleas, for example, refuse to grow on alkaline soil but will quickly provide useful ground cover for large gardens on peaty soil.

Hopefully, the differing habitats in your garden will allow you to choose a variety of plants from dry-loving to damp-loving, sun-loving to shade-loving.

What grows best in the garden?

Before you select plants for your garden, it is advisable to learn as much as you can about the area in which you live, as this will determine what you can grow. A good way of finding out which plants will grow well is to visit local parks and gardens that are open to the public.

An area where everyone seems to have rhododendrons means that you can grow these acid-lovers, too, as well as azaleas, camellias and many more.

Keep a notebook handy to record plants that you like and that thrive in gardens with similar conditions to yours. It is a good way of building up your own body of knowledge. Once you have a clear idea of what the area can or cannot offer, you will be in a position to select plants that will succeed with little effort on your part.

Climate is the place to start. is your area one that regularly experiences cold winters or hot, dry summers? If it is, then the hardiness of plants or their drought tolerance are two important limiting factors.

Then there is the 'microclimate', which refers to factors that affect the overall climate on a small scale and of your garden in particular.

A wall or hedge that protects the garden from the prevailing wind may mean you are able to grow a range of more tender plants than anyone else in your neighbourhood ;)

On the other hand, being in an exposed position, or in a frost hollow, where cold, heavy or air gathers, can mean the opposite.

Sheltered Spots
If you are lucky enough to have a walled garden, you can grow more tender plants that require protection from cold winds. Your perennial borders will flower earlier than your neighbour's in these conditions!

Light is yet another very important factor. Is your garden shaded by trees, or is it on the sunless side of a hill or your house? If it is, then you will need to concentrate your efforts on growing shade-tolerant plants.

The soil is the other major player. Is it generally damp or even wet, or is it very free-draining and so liable to dry out in the summer? Is it fertile, or acid, or rich in lime? You may not require a soil-testing kit to find out - gardening neighbours may often supply the answers.

Harmony and Contrast in the garden

Soft Harmonies
The delicate blues, mauves and pinks and softly billowing shapes of a herbaceous perennial border in summer are a study in gentle harmony.

Making a garden is an intensely personal business. What one person loves, another may hate. Such varying reactions are often to do with a level of harmony and contrast in the planting.

Very harmonious gardens, where all the colours match, and clashes or surprises are avoided, are soothing, restful places. Those who like more stimulation may prefer gardens with lots of vivid, contrasting colours, or a wide and dramatic range of leaf shapes and plant forms.

Harmony in gardens is relatively easy to achieve with single colour schemes. 'White gardens' are particularly rewarding and straight-forward. Plantings based on colour contrast are more different to get right, and are much more personal.

Mixing strong colours can create results that are vibrant to some, but too obtrusive and clashing to others.

Mixing colours and shapes
Big, bold shapes, like spiky variegated agave, make a striking feature against softer planting. Vibrant colour contrast can be provided by using yellow/green agave and pink sedum.

Year Round Interest

Some gardeners are happy to have most of their garden flowering at once. They like to see a spring garden with lots of bulbs, or an early summer garden with roses and perennials, and they are happy to let it rest for the remainder of the year. Most gardeners, though, prefer to attempt a long season of interest, which involves trying to interweave plants so that there is always something, or some part, that looks good.

A garden takes time to develop, and never stands still. Planning planting for the short, medium and long term helps avoid the great gaps that can try the patience of even the most dedicated.

Trees, needless to say, are the most long term, often maturing long after we have gone!

Shrubs, too, can take many years to look their best, which can mean a garden that is heavily reliant on them may take rather a while to develop. Herbaceuous perennials look established with remarkable speed, whereas annuals fulfil their promise and disappear within a year. It makes good sense, then, to include all these different plant forms in a garden.

Courtyard Gardens

We promised that we would go into detail about choosing a style of your garden and elaborate on the gardens we mentioned in our previous post.

Today we are going to discuss courtyard gardens :)

Separate courtyards and hedge-enclosed divisions that often bear little relationship to one another or to any obvious ground plan are typical of the Moorish gardens in southern Spain. They reflect the influence of a desert people for whom small enclosures - if only a tent - provided welcome refuge from the heat and perils of a vast uninviting desert.

Similarly, in the Mediterranean regions of Europe, the Middle East and western United States, courtyards provide privacy and shade, respite from the relentless heat of the midday sun. The contrast between this haven and the heat and dust of the surrounding countryside is made all the more delightful by the introduction of water. Bubbling up in a bowl, cascading from a small fountain, lying deep, dark and still in a central well or simply reflecting the surrounding court, its very presence refreshes the spirit.

When designing your garden, then, do bear in mind the advantages of creating an enclosed, shady oasis. You are sure to yearn for it in the scorching heat of high summer. Such an area is quite inexpensive to establish and very easy to maintain. Nor does it demand a lot of space. You can, for example, pave an area as small as 5 metre sq/30 sq yard, and surround it with a hedge of Italian Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens). Pierce the hedge with arched entrances and place a couple of comfortable benches within.

Add, if you wish, a container-grown flowering shrub and a small raised pond (we will talk about ponds also - Gina has one - well it is more like a bloody lake!) ;)

You can work endless variations on this theme, enclosing the courtyard with a wall rather than a hedge, and using the wall to support a colourful climber. Create an interesting pattern of tiles or bricks for the floor area and choose from the vast range of garden furniture the style best suited to your setting - whether in wrought iron, wood or one of the excellent modern plastics.

If the overall effect is harmonious, you will find yourself retreating to sit in this tranquil spot far more frequently than you may ever have imagined.

if your garden is large enough, you could consider dividing it into a number of different, highly individual areas, each one separately enclosed within walls or hedges. Depending on whether you use sombre evergreens such as the Italian cypress or flowering species such as Viburnum tinus, and whether you make your enclosures rigidly geometric or flowingly curvaceous, you can achieve a range of effects from the impressively formal to enchantingly casual.

Try to make each individual area distinct, so that you experience a sense of novelty and surprise as you move from one to the other. You could give each of these 'garden rooms' a separate theme. One, for example, might be devoted entirely to plants of a single colour - white petunias and pelargoniums look wonderful set against a cypress hedge - or to plants from a single family, such as rose.

Choosing the style of your garden

Well, we have been going a few days now, documenting what we can - it takes a long time this writing malarkay!

Anyway, we realised that we ought to talk about choosing your style of garden, is it a courtyard garden, patio garden, terraced hillside, a large plot of land (like we both have) paving, do you want a water garden or perhaps a dry, low maintenance garden. All these topics will be covered in greater detail later but I didn't want you thinking "OK, OK, this is great and all that, talking about the flowers and all, but where do I plant them, where do I start???!!!".

So, let's get to the matter in hand - Choosing your style of garden.

Each individual will clearly have a different approach to creating a garden. But when planning one remember that it should NOT be a chore, but a joy to sustain! Be clear before you start about the use it will be put to and how much time you will devote both to enjoying it and to maintaining your precious outdoor space. (Unless you can afford a gardener and then, well, bugger it, just go for it ;)

Cool courtyards built round gently cascading fountains, tiled patios with dappled shade from overhead vines, terraced slopes left wild with sweet smelling cistus and rosemary or planted with drought-resistant cacti or succulents - these are solutions that please the eye, engage the intellect and refresh the spirit. Lets explore a variety of styles and approaches.

The impact on design of the two great garden styles of the Western Mediterranean region has been immense. The first, the Moorish, seen at its most sublime in the gardens of the Alhambra in Granada and the Alcazar in Seville, is based on the traditional Islamic garden. In this the garden was divided by waterways - representing the four Rivers of Life - into four, the quadripartite design which has been echoed in many gardens throughout the Western World. The style came to Spain with the Moors from North Africa.

The second style, vastly different in concept, is that of the Italian Renaissance where the emphasis is on balance and proportion. Full of sanctuary, impressive balustrades, terraces, flights of steps, fountains and basins, these gardens are dramatic and formal.

While the Moorish style is intimate, designed for people to use and devoid of statuary or ornament, the Italian Renaissance garden is to amaze, to be wondered at and admired. Both styles have been adopted and adapted in countries way beyond the Mediterranean region.

The Islamic influence, for example, is evident not only in the gardens of the Taj Mahal but, through the conquistadors, in gardens of South America. The influence of the great Italian gardens spread first to France, where it is much in evidence at Versailles, and then to Britain where it can be seen, for example, in the gardens of Powis Castle in Wales,. Italian influences are also apparent in the relatively recent gardens at Blake House California.

Present day gardeners can rarely afford to emulate the flamboyance of the Italian High Renaissance, though elements of it are evident in details - fountains, statuary, ornament - of gardens throughout the World.

The Moorish style is far more accessible and practical. To create calming and earthly manifestations of the Paradise Garden, flat ground is advised with a small pond set into the lush grass, perhaps some gravel, a few trees planted symmetrically along the pond and pots in bloom - maybe some fountains of running water or cool pavilions to offer delight and refreshment.