For Full Story

WITH cyclamen you really can have it all. Depending on the variety you choose, they will happily live in the garden or earn their place as one of our most favourite houseplants. When used as a garden plant, they do an invaluable job helping to bridge the seasons with a profusion of colourful flowers while, indoors, given the right situation and treatment, they will flower right through the winter.

In the winter months, cyclamen coum help to brighten the often dark days with carpets of tiny white, pink and carmine flowers. With the coming of spring we can enjoy the scented flowers of C.repandum with its silver and red leaves and then in mid summer we look forward to the scented carmine flowers of C.purpurascens.

These are then followed from August through to late October by C.hederifoliam, long lived plants producing masses of flowers from established tubers. They are vigorous with dark green marbled leaves showing silver markings on top often with deep red underneath which provides an attractive ground cover for many months.

It is also one of the hardiest of the cyclamen species, and can withstand freezing temperatures, heavy frosts and is blessed with the happy ability to continue flowering even in snowy conditions. As a further bonus this really great plant is also one of the most easily available. To help them do their best plant in fairly well drained soil in light or dappled shade. During the cold, dull winter months they like a reasonable amount of light but avoid a site where they will be in full sun during the summer months.

To grow cyclamen you can buy packets of dried tubers from most garden centres but this isn't always the best way as these can be difficult to start up, often staying dormant for many months. Probably your best option is to place the tubers in a shallow box filled with moist peat and then wait and see.

A much better choice, although unfortunately a bit more expensive, is to buy strong plants in growth. As a general rule cyclamen are more successfully established from plants 'in the green' and these are fairly widely available from September to May.

A really attractive and colourful border of C.hederifoliam is easily established by mixing the many pink shades with the pure white strain. Once the new plants have settled themselves in they will self-seed freely. When established the border will need very little maintenance but will appreciate an annual spring dressing of bone meal and a layer of leaf mould or bark chips.

During the summer months when the leaves will have died away other planting can take over. The plant naturalises well and can be successfully planted in grassy areas.

After the leaves have died down the grass can be mown as usual until late August when the flowers begin to break through. If the weather is suitable and the soil in good condition it is possible to plant successfully during most of the year.

As a flowering houseplant its not difficult to understand why cyclamen are amongst the most popular.

The cultivated form of florist's cyclamen is commonly Cyclamen persicum.

The attraction is obvious, they provide a succession of really lovely flowers on long stems through the grey winter months, have decorative foliage patterned on a dark green background and a compact growth.

They make really good pot plants, repaying a little care with an abundance of blooms, in an increasingly wide of range of shades from white, through pinks and mauves, to deep maroon reds. To grow them successfully you will have to provide cool conditions, perhaps on a cold window sill, preferably north facing, with reasonable light but out of direct sun. Unfortunately, a plant that is kept in a warm room will not last long.

During the flowering season the compost should be kept moist. Stand the plant pot in water until the surface of the compost glistens then allow the plant to drain before returning it to its usual place. If you water from the top the crown may rot. It is best to give it a good watering once a week rather than 'a little and often' and whilst the plant is in flower feed with a proprietary plant food.

It is quite possible to keep your cyclamen plants successfully from year to year, in fact from time to time in the various gardening magazines readers write and tell of cyclamen plants that are doing well after many years. After flowering reduce watering and stop feeding. Place the pot on its side in a cool place until late summer and then repot.