Cyclamen

By Pam Hones, U.C. Master Gardener

Are you looking for a winter-blooming indoor plant with vivid color? Would you like to replace or augment the traditional holiday poinsettias with another choice, a plant that tolerates a cool room, requires minimal care and can be planted outside later? If so, then cyclamen (Primulaceae) may be the plant for you. Available in an array of flower colors, sizes and shapes, cyclamen can brighten up a shady area of your garden after you have enjoyed it indoors.

Native to southern Europe and countries around the Mediterranean, cyclamen is well suited to Napa Valley's cool, wet winters and long, dry summers. Cyclamen is one of the rare plants that bloom with limited daylight hours and cool temperatures. Some varieties will bloom in fall and winter while others bloom in late winter and early spring.

Except for florist's cyclamen (C. persicum), cyclamen thrives under camellias, rhododendrons and ferns and even under native oaks. Florist cyclamen is usually used as a potted container plant indoors but can be an outdoor container plant if kept in shaded areas and allowed to go dormant in summer.

Both the florist cyclamen and the garden cyclamen offer a wide range of showy, brightly colored flowers. Many have marbled silver leaves that add to their impact and interest. Many hybrids of the garden cyclamen have fragrant flowers. Some are miniature versions of florist cyclamen, and many are known for their proliferation of closely packed flowers.

Some of the best garden cyclamen include C. parviflorum, a smallish (two-inch) plant with solid dark-purple leaves and diminutive petals in shades of white and lavender; C. trochopteranthum, a slightly larger plant (three to four inches) with moderately variegated leaves and larger pinkish petals; and C. albissimo, with bright white petals and emerald- green leaves.

Most of the florist cyclamen are not fragrant. However, hybridizers have given us a wide selection of large plants with large, bright flowers in colors ranging from white, to lavender, to pink, to salmon to vibrant red.

All cyclamen grow best in rich, fast-draining soil. In containers, the top third of the tuber should be above the soil line to prevent rot. To water indoor florist cyclamen, set the pot in another container with several inches of water and allow water to leech upward rather than watering the plant from above. This is a good method for outdoor potted cyclamen, too.

Fertilize cyclamen just before blooming and once during bloom. Keep them out of full sun and never allow them to get too warm or over watered. Cyclamen are poisonous, so keep them away from curious pets. Outdoors, they are a popular home for snails and slugs.

Local garden centers and nurseries stock a wide variety of cyclamen. They look great with pine boughs in an entry hall or porch, in a container by the front door or on a table in the garden. No matter how you display them, you can't help but be cheered by their perky color on dark winter days.