Cyclamen coum |
Native Region: Eastern Europe to Western Asia
Zone Range: 5-9
Preferred Climate: Full to semi sun; tolerant of winter wet and summer drought; average well draining soil.
Harvest Date: Saturday 05 November, 2011
Seed count: 12-15
Description:
A highly variable species with shuttlecock flowers ranging from the palest pink to bold magneta. Round-heart shaped leaves can be solid dark blue green to heavily marked with silver. Each plant is individual, but all are pink lipped and bear their flowers in late winter to early spring providing much needed colour to brighten the lengthening days. Easy to grow and will spread when happy. Bulbs are just below the soil surface, so take care when cultivating. Goes dormant in the summer. Bulbs (aka corms) grow to 5-7 cm (2-3 inches) in diameter. I've seen older bulbs be pushed out of the soil by the younger bulbs growing beneath.
Notes:
Blooms in its third year from seed. Deer and bunnies ignore these plants. I've noticed that Cyclamen germinate the same time when the leaves begin to emerge from the adult plants, so don't despair if you seeds don't germinate promptly as they might be waiting for the optimum time of year to germinate to ensure their survival. You can't change thousands of years of genetic programing. You can try...good luck!
Cultivation:
Break dormancy: soak seed at room temperature for 12-48 hours (seed should swell). Sow 5 mm deep, tamp medium firm. Add some fine mulch. Keep moist. Seed needs darkness to germinate. Optimum germination temperature: 20 C. Days to germinate: 20-90.
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