I have to say these cyclamen are incredibly resilient. I've always had problems with C. persicum dying as soon as the temperature hits 21...Read More°C (70°F). However, these can take it far beyond that, never showing any signs of wilting due to temperature. They're amazing when it comes to watering as well - no matter if the soil is dry or wet, they never wilt (unlike C. persicum). They don't seem to care whether they're in pots indoors, in pots in the garden, or in the soil either. They all grow equally well.
The day temperature where I keep them is 18-20°C (64-68°F), and at night it's 10-15°C (50-59°F). As for the light, I keep them away from direct sunlight, just like any cyclamen. I water the ones in pots as soon as the soil appears dry, sometimes even more often (it's going to depend on the ventilation in the spot where you keep them; there's almost none where I keep them (on a window shelf, with curtains on)).
Outdoors, they benefit being under a deciduous tree, as they seem to like the leaves covering them and the soil being rich. I put some leaves in some of the pots as well, and these plants became more vigorous compared to others. It appears they like their roots / corms / bulbs receiving low to no light. This appears to stimulate them to grow new foliage and blooms as well. It's also interesting that the spots and patterns become more obvious when the temperature drops + the moisture is high.
I took mine from the forest in September, after blooming, and oddly enough the ones indoors are about to bloom (now it's November; their blooming time here is usually from mid-July to early September).
Cyclamen purpurascens is the only Cyclamen I've found to be hardy here in zone 3.
The others that are usually cons...Read Moreidered to be very hardy, C. hederifolium and C. coum, have never wintered over here, after many tries.
My plants were started from seed in 2004, and have survived and done well since then.
Two winters ago (2010-11) I bought about 150 Cyclamen purpurascens seeds, some with regular leaf patterns, and some with Christmas-tree p...Read Moreatterns and silver, from Jan Bravenboer. (I also ordered Cyclamen coum seeds at the same time.) I sowed them in several pots, and placed them outside for the winter, since I assumed they required winter cold in order to germinate. Since then I've heard that they only require darkness, so perhaps I'll try that next time. It would maybe allow them to bloom quicker after germination.
They germinated the following spring and summer. Over this past winter (2011-12) they stayed indoors under lights. This summer, two of them are in bloom and probably have tubers at least an inch wide. Others are a variety of sizes, and are not yet in bloom.
The flowers are fragrant, similar to the indoor type of cyclamen, but a little less soapy and intense. Most of the leaves have unremarkable patterns, but four look interesting, with a larger area of silver or extra distinction between green and silver areas.
Cyclamen purpurascens is grown by Betty Ann Addison of Gardens of Rice Creek (formerly Rice Creek Gardens), who has found it to be consistently hardy, unlike Cyclamen hederifolium and Cyclamen coum. She has several plants in various areas of her gardens.
I have been growing a cyclamen in a container inside, next to
a window, and it blooms all year long. However recently it has been...Read More covered with something like dandruff. Little white
spots or flecks that are very sticky. I failed to water it soon
enough and the leaves all turned yellow and when i went to remove them they were very sticky and yucky. I have been growing it for several years in the same container.
(Pony) Lakewood, WA (Zone 8a) | September 2009 | positive
These are utterly charming little plants. They are brilliant in rockeries, you can just tuck them in anywhere and they'll send leaves and...Read More flowers out through the cracks. They spread slowly but surely, and squirrels will often dig around them to get the babies, which they then bury and forget. So don't be surprised when they show up elsewhere in the garden. ;)
My love of indoor cyclamen prompted me to order these from a catalog several years ago. They are thriving in my "overlooked" full-shade ...Read Moregarden; spreading. They bloom after the Hosta and Heuchera have vanished.
My only tending is to pull out the violets which try to take back the garden.
St John's, Newfoundland is just on the border of hardy cyclamen territory (Canadian zone 5b), but I have found four species that survive ...Read Moreoutside given the right site. C. purpurascens is the best of these in that it is the only one that self seeds, the others may germinate, but the seedlings seem to fail to get through their first winter outside. Seedlings of C. purpurascens can pop up some way from the original plants: they are spread by ants who like the sugary coating.
It flowers with us from late July until the end of September, and is essentially evergreen: the new leaves appear with the flowers just as the old ones are fading. (The pictures I've submitted were taken on August 10th 2004.) The flowers are faintly scented and generally a deep reddish purple, but paler forms occur.
Oddly, although it is considered difficult elsewhere, I've found this species survives in a variety of sites, although generally in rich, well drained soil. Its main enemy here is the vine weavil, whose larvae eat the roots and cause the corms to rot.
A tuberous, summer flowering, Cyclamen from Eastern and Central Europe. It is increasingly rare to find in the wild and in the catalogue...Read Mores so make sure the nursery is a reputable one which doesn't wild collect.
This plant is an evergreen or sometimes deciduous variable plant, loved by pigs, and will cause severe discomfort if any part of the plant (not the pig) is digested.
Has heart shaped or rounded, dark green leaves, sometimes mottled with silvery patterns. Bears strongly scented (honeyish), pinkish-red or purple flowers with fully reflexed petals carried singularly on reddish stalks which appear while the plant is in leaf. The flowers stalks coil like a spring as the fruit develops to bring it to soil level.
Flowers June-October
Likes an alkaline, well drained soil in partial shade, tree or shrub shade is best. While the corms mustn't be in wet soils, this particular species won't forgive you if they are allowed to dry out (which I learnt through bitter experience) so mulch with leaf mold when corms are in dormancy, over winter.
You may not suffer a problem with pigs digging them up these days but mice and squirrels love to eat them so keep an eye out. Slugs and snails don't seem to bother them at all but if they are too crowded in or under glass they can suffer from fungal diseases.
I have to say these cyclamen are incredibly resilient. I've always had problems with C. persicum dying as soon as the temperature hits 21...Read More
Cyclamen purpurascens is the only Cyclamen I've found to be hardy here in zone 3.
The others that are usually cons...Read More
Two winters ago (2010-11) I bought about 150 Cyclamen purpurascens seeds, some with regular leaf patterns, and some with Christmas-tree p...Read More
I have been growing a cyclamen in a container inside, next to
a window, and it blooms all year long. However recently it has been...Read More
These are utterly charming little plants. They are brilliant in rockeries, you can just tuck them in anywhere and they'll send leaves and...Read More
My love of indoor cyclamen prompted me to order these from a catalog several years ago. They are thriving in my "overlooked" full-shade ...Read More
St John's, Newfoundland is just on the border of hardy cyclamen territory (Canadian zone 5b), but I have found four species that survive ...Read More
A tuberous, summer flowering, Cyclamen from Eastern and Central Europe. It is increasingly rare to find in the wild and in the catalogue...Read More