In article , Owdboggy Owdboggy.7a7
writes

In the autumn I planted C purpurascens, bought from an expert at the
local Hardy Plant Society who told me to treat it like C hederifolium
but moister in summer. It looks perfectly healthy after moderate
frosts
and a couple of inches of snow.

Well I have planted purpurascens and cyprium and mirabile outside here
in various locations in the garden, none of them have survived.


What's your soil like? I think that is more important to hardy Cyclamen
than details of moisture and cover. C purpurascens is a limestone plant
so if you have an acid soil it won't like you. I'm afraid the others
aren't in my wild flower book!

--
Sue ]

In article ,
Darkside wrote:

What's your soil like? I think that is more important to hardy Cyclamen
than details of moisture and cover. C purpurascens is a limestone plant
so if you have an acid soil it won't like you. I'm afraid the others
aren't in my wild flower book!

Grrk. I don't think that's it for any cyclamen. I have seen them
growing happily in the mould under an ancient fir tree, and I am
pretty sure that was very acid. What I think that most of them
need is drainage which, in the UK, is correlated with alkalinity.

C. purpurascens may be an exception, but I suspect not. However,
I don't know.

Good point. Is that hederifolium under the fir tree? Grey-Wilson says
hederifolium grows in "rocky and stony places" without reference to pH
or other vegetation.

It's too long ago now, but I have grown both C. hederifolium and
C. coum under conifers. They seemed happy.

If purpurascens was indifferent to pH it should grow wild on non-
limestone rocks, sandy heaths etc.

Yes and no. Many references say that they need high humus, which
conflicts with where they grow naturally. I suspect that their
requirements are indirect - my guess is dryish conditions and very
little competition.

Sandy heaths are odd in many respects, because they are very
impoverished soils, but the experience of people on chalk would
be interesting. A survey would probably debunk quite a lot of
commonly-repeated 'facts' about them!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , writes

What's your soil like? I think that is more important to hardy Cyclamen
than details of moisture and cover. C purpurascens is a limestone plant
so if you have an acid soil it won't like you. I'm afraid the others
aren't in my wild flower book!

Grrk. I don't think that's it for any cyclamen. I have seen them
growing happily in the mould under an ancient fir tree, and I am
pretty sure that was very acid. What I think that most of them
need is drainage which, in the UK, is correlated with alkalinity.

C. purpurascens may be an exception, but I suspect not. However,
I don't know.


Good point. Is that hederifolium under the fir tree? Grey-Wilson says
hederifolium grows in "rocky and stony places" without reference to pH
or other vegetation.
If purpurascens was indifferent to pH it should grow wild on non-
limestone rocks, sandy heaths etc.
Lets start a national census of garden escape cyclamen and find out what
they really do like!
--
Sue ]

Of course one could always join the Cyclamen Society and find out about them in the wild and in Britain just as easily.
Cc. h and c grow here in both our acid woodland, acid rock garden, neutral gravel garden and lawns and our highly contaminated with lime mortar other bits of garden. The others just failed to reappear when planted in all the above situations. Personally I think we are just too cold for them. We have had frost every month of the year in the last 15 years, except August. Latest frost July 7th and earliest September 1st.
I keep trying and perhaps one day will succeed with these others, outside as opposed to alpine house cultivation.

In article ,
Darkside wrote:
In article , Owdboggy Owdboggy.7ab
writes

Of course one could always join the Cyclamen Society and find out about
them in the wild and in Britain just as easily.
Cc. h and c grow here in both our acid woodland, acid rock garden,
neutral gravel garden and lawns and our highly contaminated with lime
mortar other bits of garden. The others just failed to reappear when
planted in all the above situations. Personally I think we are just too
cold for them. We have had frost every month of the year in the last 15
years, except August. Latest frost July 7th and earliest September 1st.

I keep trying and perhaps one day will succeed with these others,
outside as opposed to alpine house cultivation.

Could you try purpurascens on a limestone wall or a heap of mortar
rubble? You'd want the plants high enough off the ground that you can
smell the flowers.

I don't give him much chance - I wouldn't bet on it even in my garden,
which is significantly warmer (even if pretty cold by southern
standards), unless I put it in a protected spot.

Clearly C coum is much hardier than I thought.

If it likes the soil, yes. I doubt that it could handle very cold
conditions on clay, though. If anyone does grow it on that, it
would be interesting to hear.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , writes

It's too long ago now, but I have grown both C. hederifolium and
C. coum under conifers. They seemed happy.

If purpurascens was indifferent to pH it should grow wild on non-
limestone rocks, sandy heaths etc.

Yes and no. Many references say that they need high humus, which
conflicts with where they grow naturally. I suspect that their
requirements are indirect - my guess is dryish conditions and very
little competition.

Sandy heaths are odd in many respects, because they are very
impoverished soils, but the experience of people on chalk would
be interesting. A survey would probably debunk quite a lot of
commonly-repeated 'facts' about them!


Oh, yes!
I think the underlying question is whether all cyclamen like the same
conditions, or whether hederifolium is dead tolerant as well as having
the prettiest leaves.
--
Sue ]

In article , Owdboggy Owdboggy.7ab
writes

Of course one could always join the Cyclamen Society and find out about
them in the wild and in Britain just as easily.
Cc. h and c grow here in both our acid woodland, acid rock garden,
neutral gravel garden and lawns and our highly contaminated with lime
mortar other bits of garden. The others just failed to reappear when
planted in all the above situations. Personally I think we are just too
cold for them. We have had frost every month of the year in the last 15
years, except August. Latest frost July 7th and earliest September 1st.

I keep trying and perhaps one day will succeed with these others,
outside as opposed to alpine house cultivation.


Could you try purpurascens on a limestone wall or a heap of mortar
rubble? You'd want the plants high enough off the ground that you can
smell the flowers.
Clearly C coum is much hardier than I thought.
--
Sue ]