Every year at holiday time, florists’ cyclamen, known as Cyclamen persicum hybrids, proliferate in all the places that sell plants. Their bright colors–reds, pinks, purples, white and bi-colors—and showy, orchid-like blooms make them the ideal holiday eye candy. I generally buy one or two, either for my own house or as gifts for friends. Being … Read more
Garden cyclamen, sometimes known as hardy cyclamen, are subtle plants and easy to forget when they are not in leaf or flower. I forgot mine completely until I noticed that they hadn’t appeared this year. I don’t know what happened, but I blame the squirrels who have rampaged through the garden, digging with impunity and … Read more
CYCLAMEN Florists’ cyclamen—Cyclamen persicum–are great imposters. Despite the Latin name, they do not hail from Persia or modern-day Iran. The flowers look more like orchids than their primrose-family affiliation might suggest, and their leaves, when massed together, look less like foliage and more like marble or damask fabric. Beguiling plant buyers with their ravishing … Read more
The tall asters, now known as Symphyotrichum, will be finished with their impressive run by a week from now, leaving only some of their smaller cousins to carry on the garden show. The fall-blooming colchicums will also have finished their day in the sun, leaving only a few fading petals on the ground to show … Read more
