A year ago I bought three cyclamen and they have been in almost continuous bloom ever since. These pictures were taken a few days ago.
This is the tender cyclamen, Cyclamen persicum. Some people say that cyclamen make poor houseplants and that they should be discarded after the first flush of bloom. They call them Florist’s Cyclamen and treat them like a bouquet, not a long-lived plant. Others say that you have to let them go dry-dormant for the summer and then start watering again in the fall to bring them back into bloom. I say balderdash. They like cool temperatures (easy in my house in the winter) and bright light but not full sun. They like to stay moist, but not sit in a tub of water. What could be easier? In July I took them outside to a shady spot. I never forced mine into dormancy, although in the midst of the hottest part of the summer they had only a few blooms per plant.
I was inspired to try them when I saw them blooming at my friend Donna’s house. She has had good luck with them blooming year round, too. When I saw them at King Soopers last year, on sale after Thanksgiving, I grabbed them. I think they would make great Christmas gifts. There are red flowered ones, and white flowered ones, if you want a more traditional holiday color scheme. And there’s a variety called Winter Ice that has very silvery leaves. The leaves on all of them are interesting and have varying degrees of silver over forest green. There are mini varieties, too. The purple-flowered one in the pictures above is a mini–the entire plant is smaller and the leaves are a third to a half the size.
Even though I say this cyclamen is tender, I know a person in Aurora, Colorado, who had it survive outside through a couple of winters. For all I know it’s still alive in her garden. There are hardier cyclamen for the garden, though: Cyclamen coum and Cyclamen hederifolium. They survive the winter in my garden here at 6500′ but they have not yet spread into pretty colonies the way they have in my friend’s garden in Denver. I haven’t given up, and every year I hope to see them seeding in everywhere. For now I’ll have to be content with my window garden of Florist’s Cyclamen.
I don’t always have the best luck getting plants to bloom indoors, but these have been easy and fun for me. Next year we might offer them at the nursery, I’m that taken with them.
