Cyclamen. What next?
 

The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On 15/03/2014 16:41, stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated

Well, it depends what cyclamen you are talking about. The blousy ones
you find in pots in the greenhouse section of garden centres will often
suffer if exposed to frost. However, most of the species (and their
cultivars) are quite hardy and are some of the best plants for dry shade
- particularly Cyclamen hederifolium. So if you have a dry, shady area
(under evergreens, for example), you will often find that cyclamens do
well there when little else will even survive, let alone flower. If you
can't plant them out, just put the pots there. I let them dry out over
summer; in fact, if you let them get too wet for too long, they will
often start to rot.

--

Jeff

Cyclamen. What next?
 

"Jeff Layman" wrote
stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated

Well, it depends what cyclamen you are talking about. The blousy ones you
find in pots in the greenhouse section of garden centres will often suffer
if exposed to frost. However, most of the species (and their cultivars)
are quite hardy and are some of the best plants for dry shade -
particularly Cyclamen hederifolium. So if you have a dry, shady area
(under evergreens, for example), you will often find that cyclamens do well
there when little else will even survive, let alone flower. If you can't
plant them out, just put the pots there. I let them dry out over summer;
in fact, if you let them get too wet for too long, they will often start to
rot.


Dry shade is the accepted position for them. However, because we had a large
tree cut down the ones I planted under it are now in full sun in our open
front south facing garden and they haven't read the book. They get baked
every summer and are gradually taking over the garden even seeding in the
grass, and the block paving, there must be hundreds of little seedlings out
there at the moment everywhere you look. I will have to do something
eventually.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On 15/03/2014 19:13, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Jeff Layman" wrote
stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated

Well, it depends what cyclamen you are talking about. The blousy ones
you find in pots in the greenhouse section of garden centres will
often suffer if exposed to frost. However, most of the species (and
their cultivars) are quite hardy and are some of the best plants for
dry shade - particularly Cyclamen hederifolium. So if you have a dry,
shady area (under evergreens, for example), you will often find that
cyclamens do well there when little else will even survive, let alone
flower. If you can't plant them out, just put the pots there. I let
them dry out over summer; in fact, if you let them get too wet for too
long, they will often start to rot.


Dry shade is the accepted position for them. However, because we had a
large tree cut down the ones I planted under it are now in full sun in
our open front south facing garden and they haven't read the book. They
get baked every summer and are gradually taking over the garden even
seeding in the grass, and the block paving, there must be hundreds of
little seedlings out there at the moment everywhere you look. I will
have to do something eventually.

So it sounds like they don't mind full sun, and they have certainly
flourished in the wettest winter on record. Perhaps "the book" should be
rewritten :-) I planted mine in leaf mould this time round and it's
amazing how quickly it drains. Maybe that's the key but, as Jeff says,
the blousy ones have had no frost to cope with...so far...

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On 15/03/2014 16:41, stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated


Keep them going, feeding them with a tomato feed or similar, till the
leaves are turn yellow then find a shaded place and put the pots on
their sides to let them dry out.
Mid August stand them upright, and water the to bring them back into growth.
This is how my late mother did it and her oldest plant was over 20 years
old.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay.

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On 15/03/2014 20:05, David Hill wrote:
On 15/03/2014 16:41, stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated


Keep them going, feeding them with a tomato feed or similar, till the
leaves are turn yellow then find a shaded place and put the pots on
their sides to let them dry out.
Mid August stand them upright, and water the to bring them back into
growth.
This is how my late mother did it and her oldest plant was over 20 years
old.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay.



.... and mark where you put them. When they're dormant, they have been
mistaken for pebbles and thrown away:~/.

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On 15/03/2014 22:50, Spider wrote:
On 15/03/2014 20:05, David Hill wrote:
On 15/03/2014 16:41, stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated


Keep them going, feeding them with a tomato feed or similar, till the
leaves are turn yellow then find a shaded place and put the pots on
their sides to let them dry out.
Mid August stand them upright, and water the to bring them back into
growth.
This is how my late mother did it and her oldest plant was over 20 years
old.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay.



... and mark where you put them. When they're dormant, they have been
mistaken for pebbles and thrown away:~/.

That's why you leave them in the pots

I suspect what it means (like quite a few plants we grow in shade in the garden) that they do well in shade, but like sun when they get it. I have a gravel covered terrace at the south of the house, and have planted both C hederifolium and C coum. The coum have been in full flower for several weeks, and are absolutely covered with blossom, a solid pink mass, over 50 flowers per corm, and these are small corms which only went in last spring. And there are seedlings from the three older ones all over the place, including little patches with a dozen or more seedlings as thick as mustard-and-cress.

I haven't seen C coum in the wild, but I've C hederifolium at the top of limestone mountains in the Aegean, forcing its way through limestone chippings about 3 inches across, or peeking out of cracks in solid limestone slabs. These treeless summits are about as far away as you can imagine from our traditional C hederifolium habitat of dry shade.

I presume the key thing is that they don't like their corm to be sitting in wet soil over the winter.

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On 16/03/2014 02:24, kay wrote:

Bob Hobden;999904 Wrote:

Dry shade is the accepted position for them. However, because we had a
large
tree cut down the ones I planted under it are now in full sun in our
open
front south facing garden and they haven't read the book. They get baked

every summer and are gradually taking over the garden even seeding in
the
grass, and the block paving, there must be hundreds of little seedlings
out
there at the moment everywhere you look. I will have to do something
eventually.


I suspect what it means (like quite a few plants we grow in shade in the
garden) that they do well in shade, but like sun when they get it. I
have a gravel covered terrace at the south of the house, and have
planted both C hederifolium and C coum. The coum have been in full
flower for several weeks, and are absolutely covered with blossom, a
solid pink mass, over 50 flowers per corm, and these are small corms
which only went in last spring. And there are seedlings from the three
older ones all over the place, including little patches with a dozen or
more seedlings as thick as mustard-and-cress.

I haven't seen C coum in the wild, but I've C hederifolium at the top of
limestone mountains in the Aegean, forcing its way through limestone
chippings about 3 inches across, or peeking out of cracks in solid
limestone slabs. These treeless summits are about as far away as you can
imagine from our traditional C hederifolium habitat of dry shade.

I presume the key thing is that they don't like their corm to be sitting
in wet soil over the winter.




Yebut mine have been flooded several times this winter. I think the leaf
mould has helped plus, when they're in a container, the spread of leaves
acts as an umbrella. I wouldn't have fancied their chances in open
ground though.

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On 15/03/2014 20:05, David Hill wrote:
On 15/03/2014 16:41, stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated


Keep them going, feeding them with a tomato feed or similar, till the
leaves are turn yellow then find a shaded place and put the pots on
their sides to let them dry out.
Mid August stand them upright, and water the to bring them back into
growth.
This is how my late mother did it and her oldest plant was over 20 years
old.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay.

Many thanks. I shall follow that advice to the letter. They are
definitely the common blousy type but I'll keep my fingers crossed they
survive any frost we might get in the meantime

Cyclamen. What next?
 

In article ,
kay wrote:

Bob Hobden;999904 Wrote:

Dry shade is the accepted position for them. However, because we had a
large
tree cut down the ones I planted under it are now in full sun in our
open
front south facing garden and they haven't read the book. They get baked
every summer and are gradually taking over the garden even seeding in
the
grass, and the block paving, there must be hundreds of little seedlings
out
there at the moment everywhere you look. I will have to do something
eventually.

I suspect what it means (like quite a few plants we grow in shade in the
garden) that they do well in shade, but like sun when they get it. I
have a gravel covered terrace at the south of the house, and have
planted both C hederifolium and C coum. The coum have been in full
flower for several weeks, and are absolutely covered with blossom, a
solid pink mass, over 50 flowers per corm, and these are small corms
which only went in last spring. And there are seedlings from the three
older ones all over the place, including little patches with a dozen or
more seedlings as thick as mustard-and-cress.

I haven't seen C coum in the wild, but I've C hederifolium at the top of
limestone mountains in the Aegean, forcing its way through limestone
chippings about 3 inches across, or peeking out of cracks in solid
limestone slabs. These treeless summits are about as far away as you can
imagine from our traditional C hederifolium habitat of dry shade.

I presume the key thing is that they don't like their corm to be sitting
in wet soil over the winter.

Precisely. I found my C. coum in the very dry rain shadow under
a thick conifer, and replanted in the equally dry rain shadow
under the eaves, and they have formed a solid mat. They both
hibernate and estivate, and have leaves only in spring and
autumn (for some meaning of), and relish the total lack of
competition. Even weeds don't grow there! My understanding is
that they do exactly the same in their natural habitat - it is
waterless both in summer and winter (under the ice/snow).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On 15/03/2014 23:07, David Hill wrote:
On 15/03/2014 22:50, Spider wrote:
On 15/03/2014 20:05, David Hill wrote:
On 15/03/2014 16:41, stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated


Keep them going, feeding them with a tomato feed or similar, till the
leaves are turn yellow then find a shaded place and put the pots on
their sides to let them dry out.
Mid August stand them upright, and water the to bring them back into
growth.
This is how my late mother did it and her oldest plant was over 20 years
old.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay.



... and mark where you put them. When they're dormant, they have been
mistaken for pebbles and thrown away:~/.

That's why you leave them in the pots




Ah, but my lovelies are in the ground and loving it. I just put them in
particular spots where I avoid any disturbance until I've seen the
seedlings come through. I am talking about C. hederifolium and C. coum,
though; not the tender C. persicas and the like.

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

Cyclamen. What next?
 

On Sun, 16 Mar 2014 09:53:42 +0000, stuart noble
wrote:

On 15/03/2014 20:05, David Hill wrote:
On 15/03/2014 16:41, stuart noble wrote:
The dozen or so I have in pots and troughs have been sensational this
winter, so how do I keep them over summer? I don't really have room to
plant them out but, if I put them in a shady part of the garden, are
they likely to survive? Should I re-pot perhaps? Any advice appreciated


Keep them going, feeding them with a tomato feed or similar, till the
leaves are turn yellow then find a shaded place and put the pots on
their sides to let them dry out.
Mid August stand them upright, and water the to bring them back into
growth.
This is how my late mother did it and her oldest plant was over 20 years
old.
David @ a still dry side of Swansea Bay.

Many thanks. I shall follow that advice to the letter. They are
definitely the common blousy type but I'll keep my fingers crossed they
survive any frost we might get in the meantime

I don't think the blousy ones will behave in the same way. They don't
last long in my experience. Get some hederifolium or coum and you'll
have much better results. DON'T buy dry bulbs though. They may come
from the wild. Buy from reputable sources.

Pam in Bristol