Just found this small flower growing in a corner of my garden and wondered
what it was. I'm not a gardener so have no idea - it looks like a wild
flower/weed but has very pretty little white flowers that look like a
miniature version of the ladies cap from the Dutch national costume. There
are no leaves at all and the shoots seem to start out as little maroon
coiled springs at ground level and slowly uncurl until they're about 6"
high, whereupon they produce one delicate little flower.

I've put two pics at http://www.anf.nildram.co.uk/workshop/temp/flower.html

I'm sure it's something very common but I've never noticed it before and it
would be nice to know its name. I couldn't find it in the wild flower book
I've got.

Thanks,
-Neil F.

In message , neil f
writes
Just found this small flower growing in a corner of my garden and wondered
what it was. I'm not a gardener so have no idea - it looks like a wild
flower/weed but has very pretty little white flowers that look like a
miniature version of the ladies cap from the Dutch national costume. There
are no leaves at all and the shoots seem to start out as little maroon
coiled springs at ground level and slowly uncurl until they're about 6"
high, whereupon they produce one delicate little flower.

I've put two pics at http://www.anf.nildram.co.uk/workshop/temp/flower.html

I'm sure it's something very common but I've never noticed it before and it
would be nice to know its name. I couldn't find it in the wild flower book
I've got.

Cyclamen. (Sometimes known as sowbread.) I assume that it's Cyclamen
coum. BTW, I think I see a leaf at the botton left.

Thanks,
-Neil F.



--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

neil f writes
Just found this small flower growing in a corner of my garden and wondered
what it was. I'm not a gardener so have no idea - it looks like a wild
flower/weed but has very pretty little white flowers that look like a
miniature version of the ladies cap from the Dutch national costume. There
are no leaves at all and the shoots seem to start out as little maroon
coiled springs at ground level and slowly uncurl until they're about 6"
high, whereupon they produce one delicate little flower.

I've put two pics at http://www.anf.nildram.co.uk/workshop/temp/flower.html

I'm sure it's something very common but I've never noticed it before and it
would be nice to know its name. I couldn't find it in the wild flower book
I've got.

You lucky thing! It's a hardy cyclamen, probably a white form of
Cyclamen hederifolium. The flowers will produce round seed pods and the
stems will coil back up again. With luck, the seeds will germinate and
next year you'll spot tiny seedlings.

The plant grows from a corm which gets bigger each year. Once the
flowers are over, the corm will produce ivy-shaped leaves with a nice
marbled pattern, and these will clothe the ground from spring to early
summer - you can see the first leaf appearing in your second picture.

It's not a UK flower - it comes from the E Med area somewhere I think.
It's the baby cousin of the big cyclamen that are sold as house plants,
and has a delicacy that the large ones lack.
--
Kay

In article ,
K writes:
|
| You lucky thing! It's a hardy cyclamen, probably a white form of
| Cyclamen hederifolium. The flowers will produce round seed pods and the
| stems will coil back up again. With luck, the seeds will germinate and
| next year you'll spot tiny seedlings.

It hates competition and, in the UK, really thrives only in rain shadow
(e.g. under evergreen trees). But it is one of the few things that
does thrive there, and can actually carpet an area if the conditions
are right. It's worth encouraging (mostly by just leaving it alone!)

My C. coum grows in spring and autumn, and dies down entirely in
summer and the colder winters. And its flowers and leaves appear
at different times. Most people can ignore the difference between
C. coum and C. hederifolium!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 14/9/08 21:18, in article ,
"neil f" wrote:

Just found this small flower growing in a corner of my garden and wondered
what it was. I'm not a gardener so have no idea - it looks like a wild
flower/weed but has very pretty little white flowers that look like a
miniature version of the ladies cap from the Dutch national costume. There
are no leaves at all and the shoots seem to start out as little maroon
coiled springs at ground level and slowly uncurl until they're about 6"
high, whereupon they produce one delicate little flower.

I've put two pics at http://www.anf.nildram.co.uk/workshop/temp/flower.html

I'm sure it's something very common but I've never noticed it before and it
would be nice to know its name. I couldn't find it in the wild flower book
I've got.

Thanks,
-Neil F.


Lucky you - it's cyclamen. Ours are coming out now. They're charming
little shuttlecocks.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)

In article ,
Charlie Pridham writes:
|
| Lucky you - it's cyclamen. Ours are coming out now. They're charming
| little shuttlecocks.
|
| From the small leaf coming and the fact it is flowering now its Cyclamen
| hederifolium

My C. coum is in full flower now. The reason that it doesn't follow
the 'usual' schedule is that it is in the rain shadow of the eaves,
and thus is always fully dormant in the summer. Whether it goes
dormant in the winter or not depends on the temperature.

The leaf shape is the only way that I know that makes it easy to
distinguish the two.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
says...
On 14/9/08 21:18, in article ,
"neil f" wrote:

Just found this small flower growing in a corner of my garden and wondered
what it was. I'm not a gardener so have no idea - it looks like a wild
flower/weed but has very pretty little white flowers that look like a
miniature version of the ladies cap from the Dutch national costume. There
are no leaves at all and the shoots seem to start out as little maroon
coiled springs at ground level and slowly uncurl until they're about 6"
high, whereupon they produce one delicate little flower.

I've put two pics at http://www.anf.nildram.co.uk/workshop/temp/flower.html

I'm sure it's something very common but I've never noticed it before and it
would be nice to know its name. I couldn't find it in the wild flower book
I've got.

Thanks,
-Neil F.


Lucky you - it's cyclamen. Ours are coming out now. They're charming
little shuttlecocks.


From the small leaf coming and the fact it is flowering now its Cyclamen
hederifolium
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
In message , neil f
writes
Just found this small flower growing in a corner of my garden and wondered
what it was. I'm not a gardener so have no idea - it looks like a wild
flower/weed but has very pretty little white flowers that look like a
miniature version of the ladies cap from the Dutch national costume. There
are no leaves at all and the shoots seem to start out as little maroon
coiled springs at ground level and slowly uncurl until they're about 6"
high, whereupon they produce one delicate little flower.

I've put two pics at http://www.anf.nildram.co.uk/workshop/temp/flower.html

I'm sure it's something very common but I've never noticed it before and it
would be nice to know its name. I couldn't find it in the wild flower book
I've got.

Cyclamen. (Sometimes known as sowbread.) I assume that it's Cyclamen
coum. BTW, I think I see a leaf at the botton left.

Isn't coum the spring flowering one? Or have I got muddled?
--
Kay

In article
K writes:
|
| Isn't coum the spring flowering one? Or have I got muddled?

No. But see my postings on this. They don't flower according to
the rulebook, but when they feel like it! It's either or both of
autumn and spring, but that's all you can be sure of.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

My C. coum grows in spring and autumn, and dies down entirely in
summer and the colder winters. And its flowers and leaves appear
at different times. Most people can ignore the difference between
C. coum and C. hederifolium!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Easy to grow from seed as well!
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In message , K
writes
Stewart Robert Hinsley writes
In message , neil f
writes
Just found this small flower growing in a corner of my garden and wondered
what it was. I'm not a gardener so have no idea - it looks like a wild
flower/weed but has very pretty little white flowers that look like a
miniature version of the ladies cap from the Dutch national costume. There
are no leaves at all and the shoots seem to start out as little maroon
coiled springs at ground level and slowly uncurl until they're about 6"
high, whereupon they produce one delicate little flower.

I've put two pics at http://www.anf.nildram.co.uk/workshop/temp/flower.html

I'm sure it's something very common but I've never noticed it before and it
would be nice to know its name. I couldn't find it in the wild flower book
I've got.

Cyclamen. (Sometimes known as sowbread.) I assume that it's Cyclamen
coum. BTW, I think I see a leaf at the botton left.

Isn't coum the spring flowering one? Or have I got muddled?

No. I checked Stace. It's me who got the flowering seasons reversed.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
|
| In article ,
| Charlie Pridham writes:
||
|| Lucky you - it's cyclamen. Ours are coming out now. They're charming
|| little shuttlecocks.
||
|| From the small leaf coming and the fact it is flowering now its Cyclamen
|| hederifolium
|
| My C. coum is in full flower now. The reason that it doesn't follow
| the 'usual' schedule is that it is in the rain shadow of the eaves,
| and thus is always fully dormant in the summer. Whether it goes
| dormant in the winter or not depends on the temperature.
|
| The leaf shape is the only way that I know that makes it easy to
| distinguish the two.
|

Thanks for all the info everyone, much appreciated.

It appeared under a small evergreen pine bush a few weeks after I'd cleared
all the weeds away. Gives me an incentive to keep the weeds down in future
now

-Neil F.

On 15/9/08 11:00, in article , "Janet Tweedy"
wrote:

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

My C. coum grows in spring and autumn, and dies down entirely in
summer and the colder winters. And its flowers and leaves appear
at different times. Most people can ignore the difference between
C. coum and C. hederifolium!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Easy to grow from seed as well!

How long to flowering, Janet?
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)

In article , Sacha
writes
On 15/9/08 11:00, in article , "Janet Tweedy"
wrote:

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

My C. coum grows in spring and autumn, and dies down entirely in
summer and the colder winters. And its flowers and leaves appear
at different times. Most people can ignore the difference between
C. coum and C. hederifolium!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Easy to grow from seed as well!

How long to flowering, Janet?



Well i got an assorted packet and I would say about 2 years before it's
big enough to notice but some lovely silver leafed ones and i also save
the seed.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 16/9/08 12:01, in article , "Janet Tweedy"
wrote:

In article , Sacha
writes
On 15/9/08 11:00, in article , "Janet Tweedy"
wrote:

In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

My C. coum grows in spring and autumn, and dies down entirely in
summer and the colder winters. And its flowers and leaves appear
at different times. Most people can ignore the difference between
C. coum and C. hederifolium!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Easy to grow from seed as well!

How long to flowering, Janet?



Well i got an assorted packet and I would say about 2 years before it's
big enough to notice but some lovely silver leafed ones and i also save
the seed.

Lovely. Thanks for that. I'll look out for some.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)