Cyclamen Coum

I can feel it in the air. Just today I noticed that a few more green bits had forced their way above the soil surface outside. Spring will be here soon and for some of you it has already arrived. In the meantime, these flowers have been helping me through. Their colourful, long lasting blooms have been a nice respite from the dreary monochromatic gloom of winter.

Cyclamen coum are very cold hardy plants that boast of beautiful foliage and bright flowers that appear in late winter, just when we winter weary souls need a bit of cheer most. They are much more dainty than the big cyclamen you see for sale in the impulse buy sections of home reno and grocery stores, yet they are also much tougher plants that can handle winter outdoors in a dry shade/woodland bed. I can’t accommodate those conditions outdoors so I’ve kept mine in pots in my unheated porch, where it is known to freeze now and again, but I can control the water they receive.

My friend Barry started these plants from seed several years ago and it’s been like a gardeners surprise bag every fall as the leaves come up in all manner of leaf pattern, colour and form. Barry gifted me three that I chose based on leaf colour — I like the silvery ones best. If you’d like to learn more about growing cyclamen or where to get seeds that you can start yourself, I’d recommend checking out the UK Cyclamen Society. They know their stuff.

As an aside, Barry and his amazing garden are featured in the new Spring issue of Garden Making magazine!

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

Subscribe to get weekly updates from Gayla

5 thoughts on “Cyclamen Coum

  1. I love that feeling of Spring. I think as gardeners we are so in tune with spotting these moments. Violets are to me as cyclamen are to you, and those cyclamen are so sweet and pretty. Breathe into spring!

  2. Ahh we have that hint of spring feeling around here (Western Kansas) too. I love cyclamen and would love to get my hands on this smaller hardier variety. I’m with you…those silver leaves are spectacular!

  3. Hi, is ther a Canuck outlet for the seed? As well- did you try to winterize them and raise them outdoors? Love Sue

  4. I got those impulse buy cyclamens on a dreary winter day and found they can be quite easily but slowly propogated when they go to seed. They may revert to pre-hybrid wild cyclamen, I hope so.

Comments are closed.