You can subscribe to this blog

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Cyclamen hederifolium, Primulaceae

I was never a great fan of Cyclamen until I started buying this little beauty, C.hederifolium, as a winter house plant. It ticks all the boxes: attractive foliage; compact and very floriferous form; long-lasting (some that I bought back in December are still in bloom); sweetly scented (at least the white-flowered varieties are - I can't detect much scent in the darker pink and red varieties); and it's cheap - the nursery where I buy them sells them for £1 each. 





























One particularly attractive feature of Cyclamen is the shape of the flower buds, that are twisted like the swirl of a dancer's skirt.




































The only tricky thing about growing this little beauty is remembering not to over-water it. The densely packed leaves and flowers succumb to Botrytis at the stem bases if you do.