Garden cyclamen are subtle plants. Their butterfly flowers float close to the ground and they have an uncanny habit of popping into view when you are looking at or for something else. I noticed mine the other day when I was running the string trimmer around the yard. A small patch of pink, ivy-leaf cyclamen hugs the stone base of the former wishing well. A newer small patch sits in the front strip between the street and sidewalk. They fit perfectly there, though I sometimes worry that humans will step on them or dogs will do something worse.
The little garden cyclamens are the smaller relations of the florists’ cyclamen—Cyclamen persicum—that are sold as potted plants for winter display. The key recognition elements are the same, the most prominent being single, five-petaled flowers that bloom at the tops of the stalks. Those petals are either reflexed or held upright, depending on the species or variety, and the overall flower configuration is orchid or butterfly-like. The colors run to shades of white, pink or red.
Cyclamen foliage is as attractive as the flowers. My ivy-leafed cyclamen—Cyclamen hederifolium—have, as the name suggests, leaves that are shaped like those of English ivy. They are marked and marbled with gray-green and silver, making a cyclamen clump look like a miraculously woven damask cloth. The leaves appear after the flowers, prolonging the little plants’ season of interest.
Cyclamen are the ultimate good mixers, with a diminutive size that allows them to fit into almost all garden situations. English garden writer and poet Vita Sackville-West planted them in her thyme lawn to add interest. This is a little surprising, as thyme is a sun lover and cyclamen is generally more partial to dry shade. Perhaps, though, Vita’s cyclamen were on the shady edges of the Sissinghurst thyme lawn. In non-Sissinghurst gardens, the little bulbs might easily fit into pockets under trees or at the feet of shrubs in semi-shaded areas. They would also be perfect for container culture, combined with other plants for four-season interest. In short, anyone who has dirt can have cyclamens.
My little ivy-leafed cyclamen have been cultivated and documented for a long time. Maggie Campbell-Culver, in her wonderful book, The Origin of Plants, notes that Cyclamen hederifolium was introduced in England in 1597, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and the theatrical era of William Shakespeare. It became known as “sow bread,” allegedly because the corms or swollen underground roots resembled small loaves and were much sought after by hungry pigs. Despite the rooting of pigs in search of the next meal, cyclamen prospered in English gardens and eventually made their way to America.
People who get the cyclamen “bug” generally also plant Cyclamen coum, another late fall bloomer with a somewhat greater color range than the ivy-leafed species. Coum also thrives in dry shade and has the distinctive mottled foliage. West Virginia plantsman Barry Glick, of Sunshine Farm and Gardens, prefers it to ivy-leafed cyclamen for its expanded color and hardiness range. Since the world is always in need of good plants, my advice is to grow both types.
The great southern gardener, Nancy Goodwin, made cyclamen a specialty decades ago and started a nursery to get various seed-grown species and varieties out to the public. Sadly, her nursery, Montrose, is gone, but she still grows cyclamen and an array of other interesting plants. Many of her treasures are now offered by North Carolina’s Plant Delights Nursery, run by a wonderful, highly idiosyncratic plantsman named Tony Avent.
Gardener’s almost always grouse about dry shade. Cyclamens flourish under those conditions and absolutely abhor over-wet soil, which makes the roots rot. Combine them with other shade lovers like hellebores and various types of lamium. If you have room under deciduous trees, interplant the cyclamen with small varieties of daffodils and grape hyacinths, which bloom just as cyclamen is going into its dormant phase.
Most garden centers and nurseries carry few, if any, cyclamen. However, they are readily available online. Order cyclamen coum and other types from Sunshine Farm and Gardens, 696 Glicks Rd, Renick, WV 24966, (304) 497-2208, www.sunfarm.com. Order an array of cyclamen from Plant Delights Nursery, Plant Delights Nursery, Inc., 9241 Sauls Road, Raleigh, NC 27603, (919)772-.4794. A print catalog is available for the unique price of 10 first class stamps or a box of chocolates.