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Nov 24, 2015 6:51 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Keith
Long Island, NY (Zone 7a)
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I see many cyclamen sold but none are labeled as to species, just Cyclamen grown in Canada. I need frost Hardy to survive our cold, snowy winters.
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Nov 24, 2015 8:27 PM CST
Name: Jean
Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a)
Charter ATP Member Plant Identifier The WITWIT Badge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Sages
Yes, there are frost hardy cyclamen species.

http://www.hardycyclamens.com/...
Avatar for keithp2012
Nov 24, 2015 8:59 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Keith
Long Island, NY (Zone 7a)
Zinnias Plays in the sandbox Roses Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Organic Gardener
Region: New York Native Plants and Wildflowers Lilies Seed Starter Spiders! Enjoys or suffers hot summers
Moonhowl said:Yes, there are frost hardy cyclamen species.

http://www.hardycyclamens.com/...


In red and white?
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Nov 24, 2015 11:32 PM CST
Name: Jean
Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a)
Charter ATP Member Plant Identifier The WITWIT Badge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Sages
Yup. According to the info in the link, species range in color from White , pale pink to carmine (a particular deep red color) and magenta.
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Nov 25, 2015 4:12 AM CST
Sweden
Forum moderator Garden Photography Irises Bulbs Lilies Bee Lover
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Keith, have you tried any of the frost hardy species already in the more commonly available colors? If you have, please just ignore the rest of this, but otherwise I'd like to offer a few ideas to get Cyclamen hederifolium better established (I don't grow any other) :

If you plant Cyclamen hederifolium from dry tubers the best time to do so are in summer or early autumn when they are dormant. They do start to grow very early. Also I think it's best to ignore any advice about planting deeply to improve hardiness of Cyclamen hederifolium. My result from deep planting in ordinary garden soil was disappointing, with poor flowering and vigour and eventually the death of the plants. Since then I learned to plant these rather shallow under a deciduous tree and the difference in flowering and growth is already in its second year rather striking. The fallen leaves, if not too deeply forms a nice natural mulch, far superior to deep planting. I have mine under a European Beech tree. Apparently they can easily rot if they don't get dryish conditions during summer and from what I read this is the most usual reason for failure with them, not the cold. The tree will help with this, sucking excessive moisture out of the soil.

I hope you will find the colors you are looking for as I know that they can be a bit hard to find, especially the darker pink ones. I have some plans to get these myself, even if I perhaps will need to import them (the selection here in Sweden isn't great). I think they would be really lovely in a mix Smiling

Edit - Spelling
Last edited by William Nov 25, 2015 4:13 AM Icon for preview
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Nov 25, 2015 10:22 AM CST
Name: Jean
Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a)
Charter ATP Member Plant Identifier The WITWIT Badge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Sages
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Nov 26, 2015 2:05 PM CST
Name: Lynn
Oregon City, OR (Zone 8b)
Charter ATP Member Garden Sages I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Plant Database Moderator
Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant and/or Seed Trader Garden Ideas: Master Level
Hi there Keith.
So far the only true red cyclamen are the florist's cyclamen, which are not hardy.

I am trying one under a tree this year, with hellebore leaves providing a canopy, hope it winters over. I am in zone 8 so might have a chance of it making it. I will let you know. I just went out and looked at it. We have had freezing weather into the low twenties for about 2 weeks now and the plant is looking good, as are the seedlings that came up when the plant went to seed this summer.
Thumb of 2015-11-26/valleylynn/260681
Avatar for keithp2012
Nov 26, 2015 4:24 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Keith
Long Island, NY (Zone 7a)
Zinnias Plays in the sandbox Roses Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Organic Gardener
Region: New York Native Plants and Wildflowers Lilies Seed Starter Spiders! Enjoys or suffers hot summers
William said:Keith, have you tried any of the frost hardy species already in the more commonly available colors? If you have, please just ignore the rest of this, but otherwise I'd like to offer a few ideas to get Cyclamen hederifolium better established (I don't grow any other) :

If you plant Cyclamen hederifolium from dry tubers the best time to do so are in summer or early autumn when they are dormant. They do start to grow very early. Also I think it's best to ignore any advice about planting deeply to improve hardiness of Cyclamen hederifolium. My result from deep planting in ordinary garden soil was disappointing, with poor flowering and vigour and eventually the death of the plants. Since then I learned to plant these rather shallow under a deciduous tree and the difference in flowering and growth is already in its second year rather striking. The fallen leaves, if not too deeply forms a nice natural mulch, far superior to deep planting. I have mine under a European Beech tree. Apparently they can easily rot if they don't get dryish conditions during summer and from what I read this is the most usual reason for failure with them, not the cold. The tree will help with this, sucking excessive moisture out of the soil.

I hope you will find the colors you are looking for as I know that they can be a bit hard to find, especially the darker pink ones. I have some plans to get these myself, even if I perhaps will need to import them (the selection here in Sweden isn't great). I think they would be really lovely in a mix Smiling

Edit - Spelling


The problem is none are labeled, I don't know how to tell Cold Hardy from not Hardy by looking?
Avatar for keithp2012
Nov 26, 2015 4:30 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Keith
Long Island, NY (Zone 7a)
Zinnias Plays in the sandbox Roses Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Organic Gardener
Region: New York Native Plants and Wildflowers Lilies Seed Starter Spiders! Enjoys or suffers hot summers
valleylynn said:Hi there Keith.
So far the only true red cyclamen are the florist's cyclamen, which are not hardy.

I am trying one under a tree this year, with hellebore leaves providing a canopy, hope it winters over. I am in zone 8 so might have a chance of it making it. I will let you know. I just went out and looked at it. We have had freezing weather into the low twenties for about 2 weeks now and the plant is looking good, as are the seedlings that came up when the plant went to seed this summer.
Thumb of 2015-11-26/valleylynn/260681



There is a wooded area with wild cyclamen by me that are small. I bought a red cyclamen and planted it under a tree near the wild ones, it gets leaves falling now and summer protection in the shade, who knows, it might make it?
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Nov 26, 2015 7:23 PM CST
Name: Lynn
Oregon City, OR (Zone 8b)
Charter ATP Member Garden Sages I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Plant Database Moderator
Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant and/or Seed Trader Garden Ideas: Master Level
Keep us posted and let us know next spring if it made it.
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Nov 27, 2015 12:29 PM CST
Sweden
Forum moderator Garden Photography Irises Bulbs Lilies Bee Lover
Hellebores Deer Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Photo Contest Winner: 2016
keithp2012 said:

The problem is none are labeled, I don't know how to tell Cold Hardy from not Hardy by looking?

Not quite sure what you mean exactly. To know if it's cold hardy or not, you would have to identify what species it is first. But even if you know the species, there would actually be some differences regarding the actual hardiness depending on where the bulbs/seeds originate from. If you for instance planted wild collected bulbs (which you of course shouldn't do, but if you hypothetically did) then the hardiness would be rather questionable as they become much better adopted to garden condition after a few generations of seed sowing.

I'd however assume any cyclamen that is sold unlabelled to be a florist Cyclamen, Cyclamen persicum. The smallest of these have better hardiness than the larger ones and they can take some frost temporarily, but they would unfortunately need an exceptionally mild winter to get through winter outside in a colder area.
Avatar for keithp2012
Nov 28, 2015 12:54 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Keith
Long Island, NY (Zone 7a)
Zinnias Plays in the sandbox Roses Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Organic Gardener
Region: New York Native Plants and Wildflowers Lilies Seed Starter Spiders! Enjoys or suffers hot summers
William said:
Not quite sure what you mean exactly. To know if it's cold hardy or not, you would have to identify what species it is first. But even if you know the species, there would actually be some differences regarding the actual hardiness depending on where the bulbs/seeds originate from. If you for instance planted wild collected bulbs (which you of course shouldn't do, but if you hypothetically did) then the hardiness would be rather questionable as they become much better adopted to garden condition after a few generations of seed sowing.

I'd however assume any cyclamen that is sold unlabelled to be a florist Cyclamen, Cyclamen persicum. The smallest of these have better hardiness than the larger ones and they can take some frost temporarily, but they would unfortunately need an exceptionally mild winter to get through winter outside in a colder area.


That's what I'm saying, it never says the species so I'm assuming they are all florist cyclamen. I don't know any place that sells the cold Hardy species.
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Nov 28, 2015 5:56 AM CST
Sweden
Forum moderator Garden Photography Irises Bulbs Lilies Bee Lover
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I think It's to late in the season now for you, both in regards to selection as much will be sold out and also it may be a bit late to get the plants time to get established before winter. However Jean did post a few sources Smiling Although I don't think Ashwood nurseries exports to the USA, the other seems like viable options?

I'm afraid that the selection may be better this side of the pond, particulary in the UK and also the Netherlands. Not sure, though? Importing to the USA is however a rather expensive endeavour and there is lots of paper work needed as well, both for the sending nursery and also you would need to contact customs to make sure the seeds/plants will be let into the USA and to get any additional papers you may need.

Rare plants will export to the USA and has some nice deeper pinks, but it costs an arm and a leg http://www.rareplants.co.uk/?s... .

If you are prepared to sow some seeds yourself, you can get a truly fantastic selection here: http://home.kpn.nl/j.bravenboe... The costs involved are a bit more manageable, but then comes the trouble of getting the small tubers through their first winters.

In any case those links should give you an idea of what is available, so you at least would know what to look for. Seed exchanges could be a good source of seeds as well for these as they are a bit of a specialist item.
Last edited by William Nov 28, 2015 5:59 AM Icon for preview
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Nov 28, 2015 9:54 AM CST
Name: Lynn
Oregon City, OR (Zone 8b)
Charter ATP Member Garden Sages I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Plant Database Moderator
Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant and/or Seed Trader Garden Ideas: Master Level
Keith here is another great source of cyclamen. I have seen his and the plants are wonderful. http://www.edelweissperennials...
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Nov 28, 2015 10:36 AM CST
Name: Jean
Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a)
Charter ATP Member Plant Identifier The WITWIT Badge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Sages
William, I posted links for both you and Keith. I noted that you mentioned wanting to add some to your garden, also.
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Nov 28, 2015 11:44 AM CST
Sweden
Forum moderator Garden Photography Irises Bulbs Lilies Bee Lover
Hellebores Deer Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Thank you, Jean. I have found a few sources of these already, but that was most kind and thoughtful of you Smiling .
Ashwood nurseries is a very reputable nursery and would be an excellent source as well.
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Nov 28, 2015 12:31 PM CST
Name: Jean
Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a)
Charter ATP Member Plant Identifier The WITWIT Badge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Sages
Lynn, that is a great site. Thanks for posting it.

Keith, sometimes you have to read all the way through to find what info you want.

The plants are usually zone listed and most of the links I post have as much info you request as I can find.

http://www.plantdelights.com/C...
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Nov 28, 2015 12:35 PM CST
Name: Lynn
Oregon City, OR (Zone 8b)
Charter ATP Member Garden Sages I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Plant Database Moderator
Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant and/or Seed Trader Garden Ideas: Master Level
I really like what Plantdelights list, thank you for the link Jean.
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Nov 28, 2015 1:40 PM CST
Name: woofie
NE WA (Zone 5a)
Charter ATP Member Garden Procrastinator Greenhouse Dragonflies Plays in the sandbox I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
The WITWIT Badge I helped plan and beta test the plant database. Dog Lover Enjoys or suffers cold winters Container Gardener Seed Starter
No disrespect to Edelweiss, his stuff is wonderful, but I tried growing one of his hardy Cyclamen here and it didn't survive even one winter. And it wasn't a particularly nasty winter and the plant was in a protected spot. Keith is in a somewhat warmer zone, so maybe he'd have better luck. And even though the cyclamen didn't make it, I agree with Lynn and would definitely recommend Edelweiss. Smiling
Confidence is that feeling you have right before you do something really stupid.
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Nov 28, 2015 2:08 PM CST
Name: Lynn
Oregon City, OR (Zone 8b)
Charter ATP Member Garden Sages I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Plant Database Moderator
Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant and/or Seed Trader Garden Ideas: Master Level
Woofie, you are in the minimum growing range for cyclamen. That might be why yours did not survive. What time of the year did you plant it?

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