One of my favorite holiday plants is the cyclamen. I find its flowers not only beautiful, but also unusual in the way that they bloom and the fact that the flowers always point downwards with their petals pointing to the sky.

   

   

The cyclamen is a very misunderstood plant because it goes dormant at the wrong time of the year, i.e., in the late spring when everything else under Mother and Father Nature's care is bursting out in buds and blooms.

In some areas of the country, it is known as sowbread, Persian violet, and primrose. It is neither sow, nor bread, nor violet, nor primrose.

Cyclamens are indigenous to the Mediterranean area from Spain to northeast Africa. There are a variety of flower colors, and both solid and variegated leaves with intricate leaf patterns. They are perennials, which means they will live for many years, and that is what is confusing to many people who buy specimens for the home during the fall and winter.

When they lose their leaves in late Spring and early Summer, and then don't respond to watering since they are going dormant, people tend to throw them away, thinking they have died. Wrong!

As with many small plants that go dormant, such as daffodils and tulips, the cyclamen has a specialized type of bulb known as a hypocotyl or corm. It's basically just a flattened bulb from which leaves and flowers grow in a specific pattern.

Plant geneticists have succeeded in creating dwarf cyclamens; the pictures above are of the standard cyclamen. I can't decide which I like better. The standard size has larger flowers, but I think the dwarf varieties have more flowers per plant.

They dislike intense sunlight and hot, dry winds, preferring a northern exposure next to a house foundation, or out in the yard under trees where they get filtered sunlight. They look very good in a garden with ferns and hostas, providing that burst of color to contrast with the ferns and hostas.

If you buy one for inside, keep it away from heat drafts in your home and, since it has a bulb full of water, water it only when the soil is dry. When it goes dormant, simply put it in an out-of-the-way shady spot and water it less. Since it's dormant, it won't need much water. When fall comes, you should see it come back to life; when it does, start watering again. I also help my cyclamens along a little by using 10-10-10 fertilizer at half strength.
 

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Some of Russel's blog entries

1. 12 reasons why I won't comment on your blogs
2. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: i'm Little Johnny, and i'm a plumber's son
3. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: i'm Little Johnny, and i broke my arm
4. Russel's Gardening Handbook: A great and interesting plant for those with brown thumbs
5. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: Little Johnny, go outside and play.
6. Sometimes it's just a question of semantics and definitions
7. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: Little Johnny! You stink!
8. The Chronicles of Little Johnny: Mommy! Mommy! Come Here! Come Here!
9. Russel's Gardening Handbook: How to tell if your landscape watering is too much
10. A true real estate nightmare affecting hundreds of people
11. Russel's Gardening Handbook: Look! It's a field of... Grain? Cotton? Corn?
12. I purposefully burned a bridge yesterday
13. What part of that don't you understand? (Reading 101, English 101, & Spanish 101)
14. Out of sight, out of mind, skip the work, charge for it
15. "How much will it cost?" "$399 plus a $100 aggravation surcharge."