Re: Growing Cyclamen etc (was Top Ten List)
I can certainly echo Moira's sentiments about the ease with which
Cyclamen hederifolium and coum can be grown. C. coum establishes with
great ease and will frequently escape from gardens, often popping up
in nearby hedgerows amongst quite tall, rather rank grass. C.
hederifolium is a member of our native flora and is nowadays, all too
infrequently seen in light, calcareous woodland mainly in southern
England. There are still quite a few wild colonies here in the South
West and a particularly large stand exists on cliff faces barely a few
yards from here. The plants have spilled out from the mixed woodland
at the top of the cliffs and the short, coastal turf of the cliff face
is spangled with their pale pink or white flower during August and
September each year.
The soil is a mixture of clay and crumbling limestone and has the
curiously anomalous quality of being both very highly moisture
retentive and exceedingly sharply drained. In winter the turf is
frequently lashed by salt laden winds and consists mainly of Sheep's
Fescue - Festuca ovina plus a few annual species - mainly Poa and
Briza. This also plays host to the succulent leaved Rock Samphire -
Crithmum maritimum, Wild Carrot - Daucus carota, Sea Cabbage -
Brassica oleracea, Cowslips - Primula veris, Pyramidal Orchids -
Anacamptis pyramidalis, Spotted Orchids - Dactylorrhiza fuchsii, a
very rare White Rock Rose - Helianthemum apenninum, plus numerous
annuals - Poppies, Daisies etc. at varying times of the year.
Recently, a very fine, deep pink, almost magenta form of Cyclamen
hederifolium has occurred which is slowly building up. I noticed a
single plant of this colour form in 1989 and since then, the colony
has expanded considerably. I keep meaning to collect a few seeds from
this, but invariably forget every time.
Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK
http://www.ilsham.demon.co.uk/gardenviews.html
