Did you know that Cyclamen are one of the best winter outdoor shade plants.


Cyclamen, The keys to success are in the copy below.

Let's look at some keys to success with your Cyclamen.

Please note: These instructions are for our mild Californian temperate weather. It won't work in other areas so don't you dare try it if you live where it freezes.

Ask any group of people how many of them have killed their Cyclamen and at least half the hands go up. Cyclamen are great plants. Why do they die for people so easily? Because buyers are not given good advice and treat their cyclamen all wrong.

Picture of cyclamen growing at our greenhouses. They come in pinks, reds, purple, salmon, rose and white, some also are striped or bi-color.

Keep it cool.
Most folks put their cyclamen in the house and it is too hot!!! The leaves begin to droop and turn yellow and soon the plant looks so bad that if it isn't dead you wish it would hurry up and die.
The little stick tags that come in most cyclamen are designed for use all over of the country. They usually say to put your cyclamen in the house. Most of those tags are almost useless. They are made to be used all over the country. In Chicago where it is cold. In Florida where it is sunny and of course in Washington state where the weather is rainy and dark. And there is only room for a very few words. Take note: Cold weather readers. Where the winter weather is freezing of course you have to put that poor baby inside. But put it in the coolest spot and anytime you can put it outside in shade for a cool fresh air treatment. The growers and sellers expect you to get maybe three weeks of pleasure from your plant indoors. They don't say that, but privately that's the expected life span indoors.

We're going to talk about Southern California on this page and other temperate areas. I First lets look at where cyclamen come from. The cyclamen is a semi-alpine plant. They are native to the mountains in the area of Turkey.

Again, Number one rule: Keep your cyclamen COOL. Here in S. Calif. or other temperate areas that means outdoors in a shady to semi-shady spot. If you have to put it indoors, pick the coldest spot. Give it some fresh cool air outdoors when ever you can.
Number two rule: Grow your cyclamen in the winter. In Southern California Cyclamen are one of the best winter blooming plants. You can use them in pots on tables, by the front door or planted in a nice shade bed. Great for atriums.
It is a major crop for Weidners for our mid-winter season that goes from Nov. 1 to December 22. We grow thousands of them. We like to make sure there is are masses of cyclamen growing in the display area. Nothing is more beautiful that a full greenhouse of cyclamen. Takes your breath away! Worth the trip down to see it.
Even though you will see cyclamen all year round in nurseries and super markets, it is really a cool weather crop. Just remember that when the weather gets hot your cyclamen will get ready to go to down hill and will want to go dormant. This is a normal cycle.
Number three fact, not a rule. Cyclamen is a tuberous plant. A tuber is a storage organ and most tuberous plants have a rest period. Potatoes are tubers, onions are not. When your cyclamen has been blooming and growing for the winter, spring season and the weather warms up for the summer, then your plant begins to want to rest. At that time the leaves will fall over as if they were wilting and eventually fall off . The plant will stop blooming. Most people think that they have killed their cyclamen. They throw it away and feel a little guilty. Your cylamen is not dead. Just resting for the summer. If you leave it alone with out too much water many times your plant will start to grow again in the fall and give you another season. The miniature species is especially good about this.
Number Four rule: Don't bury your cylamen too deep. You need to be sure that the top of the little tuber is just above the soil level. Plant it too deep and it will soon get Crown Rot and do 'you know what'. In fact, if you cover up that crown area you might as well hold the funeral right away, because it will die soon!!
Don't put too much water right in the crown area.
Be sure you have good air circulation too.
Keep your plants well fed.
Pull out the stems that have gone to seed.
Hint! The seeds are hard, the new buds are soft. They look very much alike so this is an important little fact.
Pick a few flowers to go into a bud vase. They are so pretty and last quite well.

Watch out for cyclamen mites. They are too small for you to see but they do a huge amount of damage right in the crown/bud area. Cyclamen mites will give you a distorted and hard little non-growth right in the area where the buds and new growth come out. It is usually wiser and more economical to just throw the plant away. Your chances of cleaning it up are terrible. $20.00 worth of sprays, followed with failure and the infestation of other plants nearby. After all it's only a plant, not a person.
If you can follow these simple rules your cyclamen should give you months and months of pleasure.