Cyclamen leaves
Cyclamen hederifolium is one of my favourite plants and when I was packing plants to bring with me to Ireland, they were my priority. Most were seedlings I dug up past autumn and I made sure that most were silver leaved forms, with either pink or white flowers. I must admit that I am always half horrified when the first flowers appear each August because it means an end to summer. Also, I am not sure that I don’t like the foliage more than the flowers. Not only does the shape vary, though angular lobes are common, but the patterns are infinite. Every one is beautiful.
This species is easy to grow in most gardens and tolerates dry soils and quite deep shade. It is completely hardy and the foliage appears in September, either with or after the flowers and remains green throughout winter. The traditional way to plant it is with ground cover ivy but it deserves finer companions.
I also sowed some seeds from the Alpine Garden Society and, as expected since these were not sown till receipt in January, they did not germinate. Some started to grow a few months ago but today I saw that a few more have appeared. It is amazing that these trays made it intact on the journey and then finally grew.
Thank you followers
I think it is time to thank everyone who has chosen to follow my blog. I appreciate this greatly since there is little reason to do this at all if no one looks. I do not thank you individually partly because, with so much to do, I am concentrating on the day to day posting rather than anything fancy. But, be assured that I do appreciate your choosing to follow and I hope that you continue to find some of the posts interesting. And any comments are also valued and I usually reply to them. Thank you all.
The Biking Gardener 
I feel the same when the flowers appear! I grow the white hederefolium as well as the spring flowering, pink C. coum and both are spreading nicely in our Woodland border. Here, they grow under deciduous shrubs, alongside more mottled foliage of arums, pulmonarias and erythroniums (though not all in leaf at the same time! Maybe too messy!)
And thank you for your blog – it’s a pleasure to follow! 😁
I saw your mass of cyclamen in the photos – they look amazing. That’s why I like them so much – they are beautiful en masse but reward close inspection too.Thank you for your kind comments.
Thank you for your blog. Look forward to following it. Such an amount of valuable, seasonal, historical, & general gardening information.
thank you. I am glad you find it worth checking out. It is a bit random sometimes but I try to keep it seasonal when I am able. soon I hope to include something about the new garden too.
Excellent blog. Thank You
Thank you for your encouragement. Hope to see you all some time. Geoff
Love your blog keep it up. Marie. Bunclody horti society.
Thank you very much for your kind words 🙂
It’s a pleasure to follow you
Thank you 🙂
I found your pictures of the various patterns on the leaves attracted me straight away. I too have just moved from the Midlands to Somerset and was sad to leave so much…. I did manage to bring a few cyclamen, and hope to collect a few more.
Thanks for the thanks. Sorry I don’t comment v often – so busy ‘doing’ I don’t look a my emails too often & then have a weeks worth to read! I have cyclamen h. In a pot that could have been your photo – similar mix of leaves! Where is your garden now & how big? New site or established? Sorry I may have missed blog where you filled us in.
thats OK – I understand. It is near enniscorthy and is about 3/4 acre – newbuild that needs completion so the house has to be done first unfortunately!