Cyclamen is the plant of the moment. It is in all of the shops and making its way to flowerbeds that want to extend their color for a few more weeks. If you are on the UES you will see many of them nestled between purple or white-flowering cabbage plants...
I love this little plant. The blossoms seem to defy gravity, looking like tissue that has been quickly pulled from the box. Its leaves look beautiful alongside ivy. But it is a plant with a personality that is sometimes (sadly) misunderstood.
Have you ever had a cyclamen as a house plant, only to have it slowly die off after it blossoms for months? It may actually have nothing to do with the greenness of your thumb.
This plant thrives and blossoms in the Mediterranean's cool climate from Sept. to May. This is why they perform so well in our flowerbeds this time of year. But while cool temperatures are fine, they will still die in the harsh cold of the Northeast winter. If you can take one in out of the cold it will reward your kindness by flowering for many months.
Inside or out, though, they start to drop all of their leaves and 'take a siesta' once the sun and hot weather arrives in May. Many people think they are dead and throw them away. Or begin to overwater or overfertilize, poor things. But you can put them away on a shelf (but not a dark closet) and forget about them until September comes around again. Then, put the tuber in new potting soil, begin watering again, and your cyclamen should come back.
(Cyclamen in a townhouse flowerbox)
To learn more you can look over at Gardenweb for great advice from experienced gardeners.
(Cyclamen enjoying the sun outside the local flower shop)
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How do you keep the stems from becoming like a foot long? My cyclamens' flowers always grow way WAY above their greenery. Any ideas?
Cyclamen grow wild in the forests of Europe and Asia. Some bloom in fall and some in spring. Unlike the cultivated ones in the picture, the wild ones have smaller, more graceful flowers.
Get to know these beauties while you can. Alas -- I read recently that the species is endangered by global warming. From Eurekalert:
Cyclamen, a common, pretty garden flower, is at risk of extinction because of climate change. In a study published today in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology (http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcevolbiol/), researchers show, using mathematical modelling, that the ideal climate for Cyclamen will become increasingly rare and might have totally disappeared by the 2050's. Some species of Cyclamen are adaptable enough and could survive climate change, but many would probably disappear.
Chris Yesson and Alastair Culham, from the University of Reading in the UK built mathematical models based on the current distribution of the 21 different species of Cyclamen, in order to predict the impact of climate change on Cyclamen within the next 50 years.
Yesson and Culham identified distinct climatic niches geographic areas with the ideal climate - for different species of Cyclamen. Most Cyclamen species thrive in a typical Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, but many are found in areas with much harsher climatic conditions. They show that climatic niches are likely to decrease for all species of Cyclamen, and by more than 60% for most species.
They conclude: "Many of these species are considered to be at high risk of extinction due to climate change."
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Article:
A phyloclimatic study of Cyclamen
Chris Yesson and Alastair Culham
BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2006 (in press)
After publication, article available from the journal website at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcevolbiol/
Article available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy
Amused,
The long stems result from inadequate sun. The plant is stretching to try to get more light.
I love cyclamen too. The Union Square Greenmarket has plenty of colors to choose from right now.
They like bright light, lots of moisture, and cool temperatures ... a tough combination in a NYC apartment! Obviously, they're not going to survive near a radiator ... but that's often where the light is. (They also hate drafts.) Don't pour water directly over the crown (center) of the plant, or it will rot. (And don't let it sit in water, but don't let it get dry, either.) Pull the old fading leaves and flowers off. Cyclamen naturally go dormant in the spring (around April) ... you're supposed to be able to let the plant gradually dry out and preserve the corm (which is what it grows from) for next year, but I wasn't able to try it because I was moving. I think they pretty much have to be considered winter annuals in apartments!
I had great success with one cyclamen, which I owned for about 6 years; it came back and even flowered again most fall/winters, though never as lushly as when I bought it, and this was with my usual benign neglect.
Since then, I've had no luck with any other plants; I always kill them off.
Very sad about possible extinction due to global warming; this is one of my favorite plants. Some are fragrant (sniff a whole table's worth and you'll find one or two fragrant ones), and it is just a wonderful scent, one of the nicest flower scents around.