{"id":3854,"date":"2022-12-12T08:04:58","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T16:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3854"},"modified":"2022-12-12T08:04:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T16:04:58","slug":"new-and-different-florists-cyclamen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/new-and-different-florists-cyclamen\/","title":{"rendered":"New and Different Florist’s Cyclamen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cyclamen-2022\"<\/a>Every year at holiday time, florists\u2019 cyclamen, known as Cyclamen persicum hybrids, proliferate in all the places that sell plants.\u00a0 Their bright colors–reds, pinks, purples, white and bi-colors\u2014and showy, orchid-like blooms make them the ideal holiday eye candy.\u00a0 I generally buy one or two, either for my own house or as gifts for friends.\u00a0 Being a plant person, I also keep an eye out for new and different varieties.\u00a0 This year I found an especially lovely one that was also very different from traditional cyclamen.<\/p>\n

My new plant, which came in a six-inch pot, sports rose-pink and white flowers sitting high above the silver and green marbled foliage that is characteristic of cyclamen.\u00a0 The radical difference is in flower configuration.\u00a0 Typical cyclamen petals are reflexed or curled backwards, with the pointed tips of the rounded petals jutting out, or up, or both.\u00a0 Some people have compared the petals\u2019 appearance to butterflies in flight.<\/p>\n

The new cyclamen\u2019s flowers face down.\u00a0 The five petals are in a daisy-like configuration, with smaller petal-like sepals lying flat atop the petals.\u00a0 The sepals are white, which contrasts nicely with the base petal color.\u00a0\u00a0 This upside-down, \u00a0flower-on-flower configuration means that the flower bases are easy to see from above the plant.\u00a0 The look is something akin to the top of a two-tone, wavy-edged beach umbrella.<\/p>\n

In my part of the world cyclamen like my new acquisition didn\u2019t exist last year.\u00a0 Twelve months ago, the new and different plants at retailers within my orbit had raveled edges, which made them very distinctive. \u00a0I noticed an uncommonly large variety of miniature plants, with perfectly formed flowers in all the usual colors. I also found some normal-size plants that were highly fragrant, something that my new plant lacks completely.<\/p>\n

A highly fragrant cyclamen with either ruffles or flower-on-flower shapes would be well worth saving even after the petals dropped.\u00a0 The heart-shaped foliage, marbled or mottled in gray or silver, makes the plant distinctive even when not in bloom.<\/p>\n

So why do most people toss out their holiday cyclamens about the same time as they take down the holiday decorations?\u00a0 Many treat them as disposable decorations, but others are stymied by the care involved in getting the cyclamen to rebloom.\u00a0 This has happened to me more than once.<\/p>\n

Sometimes this is not the fault of the unsuspecting plant buyer.\u00a0 Florist\u2019s cyclamen, like other houseplants, are grown from seed under carefully monitored conditions.\u00a0 Growers orchestrate the growth cycle so the plants will flower at times when consumers are most likely to want them.\u00a0 It takes a lot of energy for a plant to do all of that, and sometimes the poor things are simply spent by the time the flowers depart.<\/p>\n

If you want to try keeping your cyclamen, don\u2019t kill it with kindness.\u00a0 Water only when the top of the soil feels quite dry, and avoid getting water near the plant\u2019s crown, which can cause rot.\u00a0 Alternately, direct the water into the plant saucer, allowing the cyclamen to soak up moisture slowly, or stand the pot in water for about fifteen minutes, which will do the same thing.\u00a0 Most of the experts say that liquid houseplant fertilizer should be applied about every two weeks.\u00a0 Fertilizing more than that will ultimately gives you lots of leaves and very few flowers.<\/p>\n

Now, for the some ominous news\u2026\u00a0 If all goes well your plant will appear to die, probably in the spring.\u00a0 This is normal.\u00a0 Like humans, cyclamen need their rest.\u00a0 Unlike most humans, they drop everything\u2014literally\u2014and take it.\u00a0 Stop fertilizing and water sparingly while this eight to twelve week dormancy period lasts.\u00a0 You may see signs of rebirth at eight weeks, but if nothing has happened at the twelve week point, restart the watering and fertilizing routine.\u00a0 If you are lucky, your cyclamen will begin its growth cycle once again and eventually produce flowers.<\/p>\n

If all your care and attention yields nothing, don\u2019t fret.\u00a0 Gardeners should feel as little guilt as possible.\u00a0 A glut of guilt produces lots of headaches and few flowers.\u00a0 Instead, indulge in some bulbs of outdoor cyclamen\u2014Cyclamen coum, for example\u2014which take care of themselves and produce lovely little blooms that have the same configuration as their florist\u2019s cyclamen cousins.<\/p>\n

You can also look ahead to next winter, when breeders and merchandisers will undoubtedly offer something new and different in the holiday cyclamen category.\u00a0 The thrill of the new will force open your wallet and launch you on another cyclamen adventure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year at holiday time, florists\u2019 cyclamen, known as Cyclamen persicum hybrids, proliferate in all the places that sell plants.\u00a0 Their bright colors–reds, pinks, purples, white and bi-colors\u2014and showy, orchid-like blooms make them the ideal holiday eye candy.\u00a0 I generally buy one or two, either for my own house or as gifts for friends.\u00a0 Being … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,5],"tags":[2808,285,1538,2008,2806,742,282,2807,1161],"class_list":["post-3854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-winter","tag-green-gifts","tag-cyclamen","tag-cyclamen-persicum","tag-florists-cyclamen","tag-holiday-decor","tag-holiday-plants","tag-indoor-plants","tag-natural-holiday-gifts","tag-plant-breeding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3854"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3856,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3854\/revisions\/3856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}