Wednesday 2 October 2013

I remember the first time I saw Cyclamen Hederifolium growing in the wild.    I was driving along Rosemary Lane.    I was passing ancient hedgerow, beneath were hundreds of Cyclamen.   I parked the car and walked across the grass verge to take a closer look.   Then and there I decided that one day I would have something similar in the garden.    I completely forgot of course, well we do, don't we?     It was around a year later, when I was shopping in the village, that I noticed a tray of Hederifolium for sale.    The plants looked weary, and to be honest neglected.
The lady selling them told me she had found them at the back of the nursery, and somehow they had been forgotten.   Well, this is now history......the plants have thrived here and spread.
The seed are carried by ants, and I have to say they have done an amazing job.

Let me leave you with an extract from Life in a Cottage Garden by Carol Klein.

Flowers open over several weeks, but this is just the start of it.     As they fade the foliage takes stage.   Few plants offer such ornamental foliage with such breathtaking flowers as the ivy-leaved cyclamen.   Like human fingerprints, the leaves of every plant are unique, no two are ever the same.    Their complex patchwork in every shade of autumnal green is one of late autumn's most spectacular shows.

In essence hederifolium is a shade lover, evolved with other plants and bulbs to exploit the conditions created by trees and make use of extra light as the canopy thins out - the same canopy that has kept its tubers cool, protecting them from fierce sun through the summer.   As leaves fall, light and rain filter through and flowers rush to capitalise:   pollinating insects are less frequent now.   The fallen leaves gradually rot down, providing the plants with humus-rich leaf mould.   Leaves emerge, seed is set, the cycle contines................

10 comments:

  1. Oh my, your cyclamen are so pretty. The ones I planted a few years ago have about died out. The drought here the past couple of years has almost wiped them out. It makes me sad. I am glad for you though.

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    1. I am sorry they did not work for you Lisa. Rosemary Lane is not far from my home, so I knew I had a good chance of them working here :)

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  2. Hi Cheryl,

    You really are spoiling us with two posts in a week! ;)

    Lovely cyclamen; really must get some Hederifolium too so I get some pretty autumn colour.

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    1. Will not be posting often, just when I have the time and inclination.

      Hederifolium are great for autumn colour. I have more white than pink....If I am honest I prefer white, especially in a shady area as they really stand out.


      Hope you are well

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  3. Hi Cheryl... How lovely that you are able to have them growing in your garden!! Here they are only a plant for in he house!!
    They are a wonderful plant, and I agree the white really stand out!!
    Love your story on how you got them!!

    Grace

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    1. HI Grace,
      I feel lucky to be able to grow cyclamen in the garden, they are such dainty little flowers.
      Rabbits leave them alone, so I am able to plant them freely without worrying

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  4. They are such lovely plants. Speaking of forgetting, now I can't remember whether I planted one last fall or not:) I remember debating about ordering one or two, because they were pretty pricey. If I did, I don't think it survived in our late summer drought. Mostly we see them here as houseplants.

    Rosemary Lane--love that name!

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    1. Hi Rose,
      They are not too expensive here. I can usually source a bargain :)
      If we have a dry summer I tend to water mine around August/September time and up they come.

      I love Rosemary Lane also........I somehow knew you would like it :)

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  5. I confess that I didn't realise that they grow wild in this country, I've always associated them with Greece and that part of the world. How lovely it must have been to see them.

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    1. I was very surprised to see them Rowan. Although, since that time I have often seen them growing beneath old hedgerow. I know they are not a native but obviously at some point someone has planted them and they have spread. I would imagine the hedgerow keeps the coums dry and they like that..........

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