Cyclamen bloom sequence

Roy Herold rherold@yahoo.com
Sat, 15 Mar 2008 07:57:53 PDT
One species missing from the bloom sequence list is C. rohlfsianum. For 
me, they start to bloom right after the graecums, in late September and 
early October. I leave them outside in pots until the first frost, and 
shuttle them inside and outside for a few weeks before the final 
transfer to the cool greenhouse. I'm sure that the bloom time could be 
moved backwards or forwards depending on when they get their first watering.

Mine bloom moderately well, with a couple of dozen flowers (not all at 
once) on each plant, but nowhere as spectacular as the ones pictured in 
the AGS or SRGC bulletins. I think my leaves are as good or better, 
however. Each plant has distinct leaves (and flowers), and if you didn't 
know better you'd swear they were different species.

My four (or is it five) 'mother' rohlfsianums take up far too much room 
in the greenhouse, but are well worth it. They are a bit crowded in 8 to 
10 inch pots, but seem happy. My policy has been to leave them in the 
same pot until it splits, which doesn't take all that long. Dry out 
completely in the summer, start watering again on Labor Day (first week 
of Sept).

The tubers are decidedly irregular, with widely separated growing 
points, and unlike most other cyclamen can be divided with a well placed 
cut. Not recommended for the faint of heart...

--Roy
NW of Boston, where the snow is changing to rain, and C. balearicum is 
just starting to bloom in the greenhouse.

Jane McGary wrote:
> 
> A friend in Portland, Oregon grew the rare C. rohlfsianum outdoors under 
> Douglas firs, where it enjoyed shelter and dryness and became magnificently 
> large. I'll probably move mine outdoors eventually, since the property I'm 
> buying in the city is badly infested with these trees, some of which are 
> too large to contemplate removing.
> 


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