Cyclamen in the alpine house. Part 1.

While I often write about cyclamen in the garden, and indeed in my garden they grow like weeds, it is in the alpine house that they can be seen in all their glory. When my new alpine house was erected one side was devoted almost entirely to cyclamen in pots. Growing them in pots gives you full control over their environment including watering, feeding and indeed from my observations leads to much better seed set. The exception of coarse is Cyclamen repandum spp Repandum which does like pots and rarely thrives confined in such conditions. Not all of the Cyclamen that we grow are completely hardy, if fact only a few including C.Hederifolium and C.Coum are completely frost tolerant. Most of the others enjoy some protection from the elements, and if you are in the business of showing your plants then an alpine house or cold frame in absolutely necessary to protect the foliage from weather damage.

Now that I have my plants at waist level they are much easier to observe, and one can admire the dainty little flowers without having the usual pain in the back from removing glass, bending over a frame, and maybe getting wet at the same time. Comfort is the name of the game for both plants and grower, for the autumn and winter seasons at least.

I use exclusively clay pots plunged up to their rim in sand to facilitate maintenance of a moist but not over-wet compost. The sand plunge also minimises the effect of frost, as the pots are less prone to freezing.

Cyclamen like a good soaking and then is allowed to dry out before getting a good soaking again. Even the woodland species, which usually require a more constant supply of moisture, will rot if left in a waterlogged condition for any length of time.

Cyclamen purpurascens (Europeanum) is a summer flowering species with flowers appearing any time from the middle of June until November or December. Its habitat covers a wide area from Southern Switzerland to Northern Italy, Southern Austria, Macedonian, Bulgaria, Poland Hungary, the Czech Republic and what used to be known as Yugoslavia in limestone districts and beech woods C.purpurascens is essentially a woodland plant and likes lots of leaf-mould in the compost and a well-shaded position. As a matter of fact I do not let them get any direct sunshine at all, as most of my plants are of the silver-leaf variety from around Lake Garda in northern Italy, and scorch very easily.

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