I never knew. All the way to zone 9? I'm going to have to try some here. I have always loved Cyclamen. I had no idea it could bloom in winter or survive cold. I pretty much thought it was one of those picky, pampered plants. You learn something new everyday.

Ann, they're smaller in stature than florist Cyclamen, but much tougher. The foliage of C.persicum looks ragged after the temps in the teens, but the foliage and flower buds of C.coum don't appear to be phased.

Thanks for the info. Neil. I will now be looking into both fall blooming crocus as well as the cyclamen. I may have to nix the crocus though. I already did some checking on it this morning and it seems the squirrels like them. That could be a real problem because we have an overabundance of the critters owning to the pecan grove.

Haven't seen any photos of Colchicum foliage, and wanted to share. They're kinda pretty!

Cyclamen hederifolium silver leaf has started to flower and I think I will have to wait another year for cyc. coum to flower, grown from seed.There are so many beautiful cyclamens, whether naturalised under deciduous trees, or grown in pots.





Only one autumn galanthus flower has bloomed, looks rather sad all by its lonesome, should have a few pals in a week or so.

Love those Cyclamen! I planted both C.hederifolium and C.coum last year, and in the fall C.coum produced several nice leaves, and in early winter started flowering. The really cold weather zapped the leaves and blooms, but a few new blooms are arising. I'm curious how that will effect their longevity. C. hederifolium also produced autumn/winter foliage that was also zapped by the cold. Fingers crossed they will settle in and get on a schedule that allows them to develop.

I had forgotten there is an autumn Galanthus- please share photos when the pals join in! Sounds like a lovely plant!

If you are starting a love affair with cyclamen, just wait till you see the seed pods on Cyclamen hederifolium.

Oh my goodness! Thanks for sharing that vanozzi.

Wow! Those are so cool! Fingers crossed mine reach that stage of development!

Foliage of Crocus speciosus:


A friend of mine found these growing in the lawn of the house he bought. In spring, he kept wondering why his Crocus never bloomed, but in fall he wondered what these mystery flowers were that appeared. The foliage does look identical to a Crocus vernus, so now I can see the confusion.

Hi just got some seeds of three different Cyclamens: graecum, hederifolium and coum. Could anyone give me suggestions and tips of how to sow them.? Its fall here in the S.Hemispfere and I do have greenhouse facilities and wonder about the how to's. The seeds just arrived from Europe and are still inside their packets but advise that they ought to be sowed as quickly as possible. Source: seedaholic.com. thanks in advance. Arturo

I think a cold treatment after sowing is helpful in germination. I successfully used the wintersowing method for C. coum, but it was a full year after sowing before I found seedlings emerging.

Are you familiar with wintersowing? I'm thinking more cold and temperature fluctuation than the greenhouse offers may be helpful.

Thanks Neal, would you then place them in a protected spot during the winter months in pots buried in the ground , with the brim just above ground level, under a mulch of leaves and let them stay there until they emerge? Sow them now, keep them warm for say two weeks and then move them outside until spring? ...that is when I should expect them to emerge Would you treat the three species simmilarly? I'm assuming that my procedure is a brief description of your winter sowing method. Am I right? Arturo

I would approach all 3 the same, I've read they all are known to self seed and that usually means they're good for wintersowing. I offered my container very little protection aside from keeping the container next to the house. I used a plastic 1 gallon milk jug, cut so that 1 side was left attached to form a hinge. The first spring I saw nothing, but just allowed the container to set there all summer and through the 2nd winter, then to my surprise the 2nd spring I found seedlings!

They can be slow, so don't give up on those containers.

I was wondering about one of the method's advantage would be to place WS containers near the spot chosen for future planting in the shade garden. Then in summer the broadleaved trees will cast their dappled shade keeping the ongoing germination cool. The three C's are from Mediterranean climates so I expect that they should need a rest from dampness in summer, which would me in my case.I chose these species because of my simmilarity in climate. So they are sort of minigreenhouses with the seeds doing their job but unmixed with the rest of garden plants growing next and thus easier to asess the success/failure. Instead of using milkjugs ( which for some unknown reason they have not reached us ( milk is sold in cartons or polythene sachet bags) I'll use discarded soft drink bottles which can be camouflaged much better in my future shade garden. I'm assuming that there should be no major difference in doing that. Thanks again Neill for helping me out ; I'll keep posted about it, although as you say it may take perhaps 2 years... by then this thread may be dead!

I think that will work beautifully! I've used 2 litre milk cartons successfully too. I chose not to direct sow for the same reasons, I just felt it would be too easy for the tiny seedlings to get lost among all the growth. I'm not good at letting any garden space go unfilled