|
 December
1999
 Ruellia
'Black Beauty'
November
1999
Daphne
arbuscula
October
1999
Tulipa
schrenkii
September
1999
Machaeranthera
colorodoensis
August
1999
Veronica
spicata nana
July
1999
Campanula
garganica
June
1999
Saponaria
X Olivana
May
1999
Phlox
bifida
April
1999
Aethionema
oppositifolium
 March
1999
Cyclamen
coum
February
1999
Moneses
uniflora
January
1999
Eritrichum
nanum
Archive 2004
Archive
2003
Archive
2002
Archive
2001
Archive
2000
Archive
1998
Archive
1997
|
Plant
of the Month
March
1999
Cyclamen
coum ssp coum
by Nina Lambert
Cyclamen
coum ssp coum is among the hardiest of the nineteen
recognized species of cyclamen and is readily distinguished
from the less cold tolerant and more temperamental relation,
C. c. subspecies caucasicum, by
the white 'nose' at the base of the corolla lobe or
petal.
Although
cyclamen are indigenous primarily to areas surrounding the
Mediterranean and Black Seas, the shape of their blossoms
resembles those of a North American native, the dodecatheon
or 'Shooting Star'. Both are Primulaceae, their elegant
flowers exhibiting the characteristic of five petals joined
at the base.
As a
species, C. coum is widely
distributed across the Middle East, being found both at sea
level and in mountainous areas as far west as the Aegean
Islands and Turkey at the eastern end of the Mediterranean
Sea, south into Lebanon and Syria, north into Bulgaria,
eastward around the Black Sea and over into Iran to the
Caspian Sea.
Like all
cyclamen grown out-of-doors, Cyclamen
coum ssp coum requires good drainage, protection from
the full force of the summer sun and winter winds and the
addition of top dressing to ensure that mature tubers remain
well covered as they enlarge with age and that fresh seed
gets covered and anchored against surface wash. Seed set is
copious, as many as thirty five to a capsule. Left
undisturbed, Cyclamen coum ssp
coum will colonize in the open garden.
 Flower
buds are formed in the Fall, stretch out under the surface
of the soil and emerge when conditions favor during the
winter and early spring. Color ranges from deep magentas and
crimsons through the pink shades to the less common white.
The leaves vary as to pattern and depth of coloration, the
full measure of which usually does not emerge until after
the third year of growth. No matter when they bloom,
cyclamen ripen their seed as the plants go dormant with the
advent of drier soil and continuous hot weather in the late
spring and most germinate with added moisture in the cooler
temperatures of the Fall. Since new root growth commences
during the peak of summer dormancy, in northern gardens
cyclamen are best moved prior to mid-August, preferably
during the late spring and early summer.
|
