Tag Archive | wilt

Herb Gardens: How To Grow Herbs In Pots

2021

updated 3/14/2024

Herb Gardens: The Scents and Flavors of Summer

Fresh ‘Genovese’ basil for the garden salad…savory French thyme on grilled fish…chives and flat parsley to enliven the egg salad and browned potatoes. Yummy! This lengthy article describes how you can plant and enjoy growing herb gardens in containers. Growing potted herbs on the balcony or the sunny patio is the perfect solution if you have no garden space.

Potted herb gardens can be moved around to get just the right amount of sunlight the plants need. They can enjoy the morning sun on one side of the deck, and a few additional hours of afternoon sun on the other. As the sun’s arc changes from one season to the next, you can reposition the plants to capture the most light.

Several years ago, a gentleman asked me to pot herbs into a large strawberry jar. He traveled frequently between his residence and a summer home at the beach. Because he was a keen cook, he planned to take this herb garden with him to the next kitchen, wherever it was. So, if not prohibited where you’ll be traveling, consider taking your herb garden with you on your next road trip!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Place herb gardens on the picnic table for family and guests to sample as they enjoy the day’s barbecue. And then, in autumn, you can continue the harvest by growing them in sunny windows indoors.

Using herbs to flavor foods might help you kick the salt habit, or at least decrease its consumption. In addition to their wonderful flavors, herbs have high concentrations of beneficial antioxidants, which contribute to our well-being. In decreasing order, oregano, rosemary, parsley, basil, and thyme contain the most antioxidants among the common herbs.

I’ve sold herb gardens as wedding or birthday presents, for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, and as housewarming gifts. Families purchased herb gardens for retiring parents, who planned to devote more time to gardening. Over decades of selling potted plants, I estimate that about half of these delightful combinations were given as gifts.

Choosing the Right Containers for Herb Gardens

Style and Size

Visit any well-stocked garden center and you’ll see an extensive selection of terra cotta (clay), stoneware, ceramic, wood, and inexpensive plastic pots. Containers are available in all sizes and shapes. Plain or ornate finishes reflect modern, rustic, or classic styles. You’ll also find containers specially fitted for deck railings or for hanging on a wall. Plant a half whiskey barrel with one or more mint varieties, and let them take over…in the pot, that is.

Some ceramics are glazed with materials that should not be used with edible plants. There might be a sticker on the bottom indicating this.

Rabbits are cute, but…

Small clay pots dry out faster than large non-porous pots. Just one day too many in direct sun without water could kill the plants. Lining a clay pot with food-grade plastic and poking a few holes in the bottom will slow the evaporation to a degree. To be sure, your herb gardens—especially small ones—will need daily checking.

Potting herbs in hanging baskets is a great solution if you live where deer and rabbits are waiting for the instant you turn your back. They’re particularly attracted to parsley, cilantro, and dill.

Herbs need excellent drainage, so always choose pots that have holes in the bottom. Other than that requirement, just select the pots that appeal to you. Many gardeners look for a consistent style, favoring pots that harmonize with each other and with the setting.

Window Boxes

Clay pots for herb gardens.

A popular container for herb gardens is the window box. Window boxes come in many styles, from quite simple to highly ornate. They’re available in terra cotta (lower shelf in photo, above), plastic, and lined or unlined wood. Plastic containers often have plugs in the drainage holes; remove them to ensure proper drainage.

You can hang them outside windows in securely anchored frames; lighter weight containers are a safer bet. Or simply place them on a brick wall, along a sidewalk, or at the edge of a sunny patio. Several herbs in clay pots look charming clustered together on a table. Where wind is a concern, use heavier pots, but don’t place them where they could blow off the balcony to the sidewalk and harm someone.

Cracking

Handle clay pots carefully so they won’t crack. Clay pots might tolerate one or a few seasons of freezing weather; eventually most will begin to spall or crack. When clay absorbs water, and the water expands as it freezes, the clay degrades. Denser terra cotta (Italian for “baked earth”) survives more winters than softer clay.

This clay pot (photo, right) spent almost a decade outside, and it cracked this past winter. Until it crumbles, it will serve some purpose in the garden. I usually used Italian clay pots for my plant business and acknowledge that even better-quality pottery has limits.

Switching herbs into frost-resistant pots where winters are cold is one option. Other options include growing them indoors, in a cold frame, or in a conservatory—in other words, where the pots won’t freeze.

Tuscan Style

Years ago, I planted two herb gardens for a customer in Potomac, Maryland. They sat on a low stone wall surrounding a sunny Mediterranean-style garden. The Italian clay window boxes were over 4′ long and weighed more than 50 pounds empty. They were beautiful when finished—all those shades of green, purple, gray, variegated white and yellow—and the fragrances!

Even without flowers, potted herb gardens have their own unmistakable charm. Green algae and that white coating (efflorescence, from mineral salts) building up on clay pots won’t harm the plants but will amplify the rustic factor. And, yes, you can clean it off if you prefer.

Long Toms

Long toms, also called rose pots, are taller than they are wide (top shelf and part of next one, in photo under “Window Boxes”). Variegated lemon thyme or prostrate rosemary cascading over the side are perfect choices.

These pots are available in tiny sizes only 2″ wide, but 4″, 5″, and 6″ pots are more useful. Offer small herb containers as party favors for special occasions or use them to assign seating around the table.

While in Maryland, I potted herbs into 3″ stainless steel long toms for the tables at a popular seafood restaurant. I switched them out every couple of weeks.

I used to purchase clay long toms from a wholesale supplier in Baltimore. They normally came without drainage holes, so I added them, using a reversible drill and a masonry bit. Easy.

Plain Pots

“Azalea” pots are 3/4 as tall as they are wide.

Reusing what you have sitting around the garage is most economical.

Clean out those 12″ hanging baskets that held annuals last year, and repurpose them for herb gardens, with or without the wires. Green plastic pots last longer than white ones, which degrade faster in direct sun.

Empty the tired old soil into the shrub gardens and purchase new potting soil for your project. Some plants, particularly basil, are susceptible to several soil borne diseases. Starting with clean materials, therefore, is critical for their success. Wipe down used pots with a 10% bleach solution, rinse, and air-dry…for basil, at least.

Azalea pots are a bit shorter than they are wide and lend a more anchored look to potted plants. I prefer azalea pots over standard pots (height = width). It’s a personal choice, of course. You can pot them up with one plant or use a larger pot for a few plants.

Topiary

Rosemary and lavender topiary standards (the lollipop shape) look great in clay azalea pots, with some moss growing on the soil surface. Grow them indoors, in full sun, where they’re protected from hard winter freezes. But keeping them outdoors—even in chilly weather—ensures they get enough direct sunlight.

Try training the woody herbs “quasi-bonsai” style, with knobby stems, a few little weeds, and a fallen “log” embedded in the moss. Allowing the clay to mellow with algae and efflorescence, and those pots aren’t so plain after all.

Strawberry Pots

Lemon thyme in a clay strawberry jar.

Planting a strawberry jar is a bit more complicated, so it deserves a post of its own. If your attempts at planting a strawberry pot have been less than successful, refer to this article for solutions.

Pot Color

A fine point often overlooked in container gardening is the color of the pot. In summer, with scorching sun bearing down on a dark pot, that heat transfers to the soil. Consequently, the root system will be sparse on the hot side of the pot. Plants are happier without this stress.

You can alleviate their discomfort by shading the root system in summer with smaller pots of heat tolerant plants, such as dwarf zinnias or vinca. Or use white pots in hot weather to lower the temperature.

In autumn, I plant cool season greens and herbs in black nursery pots. Dark colors absorb more energy from the sun. Warming the soil a moderate amount helps limit the deep freeze in winter. The longer the roots can function, the more foliage I’ll be able to pick.

Curiously, clay pots with moist soil can feel cooler to the touch. This is due to evaporative cooling, where the temperature decreases as water evaporates from the surface. So, even in hot weather, a clay pot won’t feel as hot as most other pots. Your skin performs the same function.

Choosing pot colors might not be an option. Alternatively, plant herbs that dislike heat (such as cilantro) on the cooler north (northern hemisphere) or east side of the pot.

Choosing the Right Plants for Herb Gardens

A Proper Fit

First, decide which herbs you want to grow. Look for smaller varieties of the herbs you use in cooking, choosing young but well-rooted transplants. These will adapt better to containers than full size varieties. Sometimes there’s not much choice; maybe only ‘Italian Large Leaf’ basil is available. Okay, I’d rather have it than no basil at all, so there are 4 options when using large-growing herbs:

use fewer herbs in the herb garden to make room for the big basil
keep the basil in the combination pot, but cut it back more frequently
find a larger pot for the herb garden
grow this large basil by itself

We need to find a balance between plant size and available space relative to what other plants need. You can fit a few plants together, but they suffer when cramming all the herbs you like into too small a container. Plants growing in pots, however, don’t grow as large as those in the ground.

Seeds and Transplants

Seeds can be sown directly in the pots, but thin them once they sprout. Remember that some species are very slow to germinate, and you most likely will have better success with transplants. For new gardeners, I suggest buying young plants for now, and perhaps experimenting with seeds during the summer. But if the herbs you need are available only as seed, go for it.

Garden centers and farmers’ markets offer a wide variety of herbs grown as transplants. Some growers start them from seed, cuttings, or plugs (very young plants) several times a year. In one growing season, you might find dozens of varieties of basil alone! So, shop around for the local herb lady, and request certain plants she might grow for you.

I included a section on Propagating Herbs, which you’ll find on Page 5.

What’s the Difference Between Herbs and Spices?

: Cilantro, the herb.

: Coriander, the spice.

Although we use the two terms interchangeably, there is a difference between them. Herbs are leaves of edible plants, and the focus of this article. Spices comprise all other parts of edible plants—bark, seeds, roots, fruits, and flower parts.

Cilantro leaves and coriander seeds come from the same plant, but those interested in this minor technicality differentiate between the herb and the spice.

Turmeric, ginger, vanilla extract, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper are spices that we keep in the pantry. Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, comes from the 3 threadlike female parts in a fall-blooming Crocus sativus flower.

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Headings:

Page 1: The Gift That Keeps On Giving, Choosing the Right Containers for Herb Gardens (Style and Size, Window Boxes, Long Toms, Plain Pots, Pot Color), Choosing the Right Plants for Herb Gardens (A Proper Fit, Seeds and Transplants, What’s the Difference Between Herbs and Spices?)

Page 2: Which Herbs Are Annuals? Biennials? Perennials?

Page 3: Herb Gardens Close To the Kitchen, Combination Pots, Potting Up Herb Gardens, How To Maintain Herb Gardens (Light, Natural Sunlight, Artificial Light)

Page 4: Tips For Watering Herb Gardens (Transpiration, Why Plants Wilt, Testing for Moisture, From Season To Season, Water Temperature), Fertilizing Herb Gardens (Organic or Synthetic?, Macronutrients and Micronutrients, How Often To Fertilize Herbs, When We Don’t Fertilize, The Taste Test), Temperature (As Temperatures Change)

Page 5: Common Pests (Better Options To Eradicate Pests, Bacillus Thuringiensis, Horticultural Oil, Organic Sluggo, Plain Water), Girth Control (It’s Thyme For Drying, Which Herbs Dry Well?), Renovating Herb Gardens (Propagating Herbs)

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What Is Wrong With My Houseplants?

Jan4

2019: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Does your list of New Year’s Resolutions include paying more attention to your houseplants? Now that the busy holidays are over, we’re almost back to our routines. The plants look forward to returning to their normal locations. They missed those bright windows!

If you’re dissatisfied with your plants’ appearance, today might be a good day to give all the houseplants a thorough examination and a good cleanup.

Philodendron selloum adds a tropical element to the indoor environment.

What Is Wrong With My Houseplants?

Let’s begin with some easily recognized problems:

the plant has collapsed into a sad-looking heap of wilted foliage
leaf tips are brown
leaves are turning yellow
many of the leaves are dropping off
the flowers are gone

But your houseplants have sentimental value, so they’re not going into the trash…or into the compost pile. And you know they probably will recover with a little attention. After all, the same thing happened last year.

A home without houseplants looks sterile—to me, anyway—so there will always be indoor plants wherever we live. They rid the air of benzene, formaldehyde, and other pollutants. In return, we get a small boost in the humidity and oxygen content of the air we breathe.

And we enjoy living with nature. Many studies point to the psychological benefits of living with plants at home, at the office, in school, and in the community.

With the renewed interest in growing houseplants, a huge number of species and varieties are available. Popular plants, such as Fiddle-leaf fig (Ficus lyrata), are in such high demand at garden centers that supply is often difficult to maintain.

cold frame before covering, with mini lights

Several dozen plants are protected here, and will be covered with plastic for the night.

There are hundreds of plants in my collection, from 1″ tall miniature Haworthias to a 6′ tall 40-year-old ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata).

Many succulents and half-hardy perennials spend the winter in the cold frame outdoors, heated with a few strings of miniature incandescent Christmas lights and covered with 2 or 3 sheets of clear plastic (photo, right). There’s just not enough room inside for everyone!

We often have warm winter days in the Carolinas. This gives some houseplants the opportunity to spend a few afternoon hours on the enclosed deck, basking in the mild sunshine.

My Peace Lily Is Wilting

Spathiphyllum, or peace lily, popular houseplants

Peace lily, Spathiphyllum.

Wilt in peace lilies due to underwatering is a common problem. There are few plants that exemplify wilt more clearly than this one. A dry but still living peace lily, once watered thoroughly, will recover. But a few leaves might turn yellow, and they won’t green up again.

Peace lily (Spathiphyllum spp.) is commonly available and a good choice for beginning gardeners. You see them in malls and offices all over the country, where lush foliage lends a tropical flair to indoor spaces. Garden centers sell cultivars ranging from robust five-foot-tall specimens to table-top varieties less than 10″ tall.

They like soil that stays lightly moist all the time. But roots that stay wet all the time (from overwatering, overpotting, sitting in a wet saucer, or poorly-drained soil) are unable to “breathe”. Air and water are equally important to root health. Tiny root hairs that absorb moisture rot in wet soil, so the plant can’t get water to the leaves, causing the familiar wilt. A plant can wilt from either dry or constantly wet soil.

Keeping the Peace Lily Tidy

Bird of paradise.

When yellow leaves appear, remove the entire leaf—both the blade (the wide part) and the petiole (the narrow leaf stem). The petiole is connected to the crown, stem, or the main trunk of a plant by a thin layer of cells. That layer of cells, the abscission layer, helps the petiole separate from the main part of the plant if the leaf is no longer useful.

After cutting off most of the yellow leaf, peel off the last bit of the yellow or brown petiole. If it is difficult to remove, as in large cultivars, cut the base of the petiole longitudinally down the center, toward the stem or the crown. Now you can easily peel off each half of the remaining petiole.

This works on other species with strong leaf attachments, such as Bird of paradise (Strelitzia, photo, above), yucca, palm, and dracaena. Removing all those dead fragments greatly improves the plant’s appearance.

Easy to Grow

Peace lilies are not demanding when it comes to light. Provide bright indirect light or morning sun for continuous growth. Disregard the advice that they thrive in “low light”. Sure, they’ll survive for a while, but brighter light toughens the tissues. New growth emerges thicker and stronger.

Plants photosynthesize and grow faster and often bloom in those locations, sometimes emitting a trace of scent soon after the white spathe flowers open. During the shorter days of the year, peace lilies welcome a few hours of direct sun.

Peace lilies in bloom.

When the flower turns brown, snip off most of the stalk, wait a few days, and then pull out the remaining part of the shrinking brown stalk. You could remove it earlier, but sometimes a few green leaves are inadvertently removed at the same time. Once again, this keeps the plant tidy, with no lingering dead remnants.

How Often Should I Water My Peace Lily?

The Environmental Variables

Temperature, light, humidity, fullness of the plant (number of leaves), pot size and type (porous or non-porous), soil composition, and air circulation affect moisture in the soil. A furnace cycling on more often during cold weather necessitates frequent watering of thirsty plants. Knowing how these variables work in conjunction with each other, for each species, will determine how often your plant needs water.

A full and potbound (roots tightly filling the pot) peace lily, in morning sun at 72°F, and in potting soil that drains fast (has a lot of bark chips), for example, might need water every 2 or 3 days. On the other hand, one that was recently transplanted into soil with mostly peat moss and kept in a room at 65°, in indirect light, with 15 other plants nearby (higher humidity) might need water every 5 or 10 days. That’s why it’s so difficult to answer the question, “How often should I water it?”

Most varieties of peace lily are potted into 6″ to 10″ diameter pots. Stick your finger into the soil an inch or two down from the surface. If the surface of the soil feels dry, but there’s damp soil below that, the plant does not need water.

Waiting to water your plants until they begin to wilt is not a good idea. Delaying for only one day could cause another leaf to turn yellow. Or the plant will refuse to produce new foliage.

How Can I Tell When To Water?

A better course of action is to feel the moisture in the soil and the weight of the plant and pot. Eventually, you’ll learn to recognize that when it feels “this” dry or light in weight, it’s time to water. Some gardeners rely on inexpensive soil moisture meters, but I don’t consider them to be very accurate.

And water your peace lily thoroughly! Not just a little bit that moistens the top 2″ of soil. Instead, give it enough to moisten the entire root ball. Some water will drain into the saucer, and a dry pocket of soil might soak up that excess. Drain off any excess that remains in the saucer after 15 minutes.

Many of us conserve energy in winter by keeping the thermostat in the mid to high 60’s F during the daytime and in the low 60’s at night. If you’re growing plants from the tropics, they appreciate being given lukewarm water, about 85° or 90°. This includes ficus, philodendron, pothos, African violet, Alocasia, Aglaonema, and spathiphyllum. Dry soil absorbs lukewarm water more readily than it does cold water.

Upon Careful Examination

Place a fully wilted peace lily in a bucket filled with lightly warmed water up to the pot’s rim. You might have to weigh down the pot. Keep it there for an hour or two, then let it drain. If it doesn’t revive after a few hours, remove the plant from its pot and examine the roots.

Certain materials used at the wholesale nursery, once dry, can resist absorbing water. It’s possible that, even though the plant had been transplanted into better quality potting soil, the plant’s original root ball stayed dry and was unable to produce new roots. When transplanting any plant, tease out some of the roots on the surface of the root ball, especially one that is solidly filled with roots. This helps stimulate the formation of new roots that will quickly grow into fresh potting soil.

I’ve worked on plants that seemed to have moist soil, yet remained in a wilted state. One of these conditions was usually the cause:

The plant was repotted too deeply, rotting the petioles and the crown of the plant. The crown should remain at soil level, where the green top growth meets the roots. Very few plants survive being planted lower in the soil. Rule of thumb: the original soil surface should be visible after repotting.
Over time, the organic matter (peat moss, wood products) in soil breaks down and loses most of its volume. Consequently, the soil surface drops lower in the pot. If roots are visible under the crown and are exposed to the air, add fresh potting soil to cover the roots. You might have to remove the plant from the pot and add soil under the roots to raise the crown to the proper level. Either way, don’t bury the crown.
The roots were not teased out from the root ball, and remained within the tight confines of the original root ball. The root ball dried out before new roots could grow into the moist new soil.
New potting soil was loosely added around the root ball, and not firmed in next to the roots. Moderate pressure against the roots helps develop a healthy root system, and fills any voids in the pot that could dry out delicate root hairs. It also prevents water from rushing through the pot, following the path of least resistance, and not soaking in.
The plant’s soil was wet for too long, and the rotted roots couldn’t regrow. Fungal and bacterial pathogens build up in wet soil and cause more problems.
The temperature in the room or of the water was too low.
The plant was overfertilized, burning the roots. Many people think that fertilizing more often or using more than the recommended concentration makes plants grow faster. It doesn’t. Overfertilizing makes plants die faster. High salt concentrations draw water out of the roots, killing them.

Many of the problems we have with houseplants can be avoided if we keep them potbound in the winter. Cooler soil temperatures and shorter days do not favor root growth at this time of the year. It’s better to delay repotting houseplants into larger containers, if they need it, until spring to mid summer.

Headings:

Page 1: What Is Wrong With My Houseplants?, My Peace Lily Is Wilting, How Often Should I Water My Peace Lily? (The Environmental Variables, How Can I Tell When To Water?, Upon Careful Examination)

Page 2: How Often Should I Water Houseplants?, Should I Fertilize My Houseplants?, Brown Tips On Houseplants (Overwatering, Underwatering, Overfertilization, Disease, Guttation, Fluorine), Yellow Leaves, and My Houseplants Are Dropping Leaves

Page 3: Succulents (Porous Pots, Repotting and Refreshing), Ferns (Raise the Humidity), Pothos and Philodendron, Snake Plant (What is CAM?), English Ivy (Spider Mites), Will They Flower Some More?, and Before You Know It

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How To Keep Cyclamen In Bloom

Nov26

It’s Time For Cyclamen!

A florist’s cyclamen.

Cyclamen are perfect winter-blooming plants. Miniature varieties don’t take up much space, and they can fit in just about anywhere–a cool windowsill, the kitchen table, or a guest room. The cyclamen found in garden centers in autumn are florist’s cyclamen, which I’ll describe after the section on hardy cyclamen.

Now that we’re well into autumn, temperatures dip below freezing at night. Outdoor gardening activities are less critical, and preparing for the holidays takes priority.

Garden centers are brimful with enticing delights—real trees (fake ones, too) and wreaths and all the trimmings… Strings of miniature Christmas lights (“annuals”, according to some), bird feeders, seed and suet…

And plants, of course. Poinsettias in an ever-widening assortment of cultivars, paperwhite narcissus bulbs in bins or sprouting in pots, stately amaryllis in dozens of colors…and benches of cyclamen in sprightly pinks, reds, bicolors, and pure white.

I’ve always loved miniature cyclamen. Sometimes you can find one with an especially delightful scent. The miniatures, to me, are easier to manage and stay in bloom longer than the larger types. A pink miniature from last Christmas just went out of bloom, yet summoned the energy to form 20 new flower buds.

Now, they won’t bloom forever, but with careful maintenance, miniature cyclamen can bloom for many months.

Cyclamen are truly versatile. They easily fit into combination arrangements with Norfolk Island pine, English ivy, small poinsettias, and houseplants seeking company.

Grow them in rustic clay pots, in modern ceramics, in birch logs, and in baskets. Or clustered on the credenza with candles, amaryllis, and fresh greens. And near the front door, in the chilly foyer, under a desk lamp, with some ornaments, and, yes, more greens.

There are two groups of cyclamen: those that are hardy and can tolerate cold temperatures when planted in the garden (“Hardy Cyclamen”) and those that are grown for indoor culture (“Florist’s Cyclamen”).

Hardy Cyclamen—We Can Take the Cold

There are about two dozen species of cyclamen available to gardeners, all belonging to the Primulaceae family. In addition to Cyclamen, other members in the family include Primula, Lysimachia, Dodecatheon, and about 50 other genera.

The hardy Cyclamen hederifolium.

***Cyclamen* *Hederifolium***

Cyclamen hederifolium is the most commonly found hardy cyclamen. The ivy-leaved cyclamen grows outdoors in USDA Zones 5 to 7, and can take temperatures down to -20°F. Its resemblance to English ivy (Hedera helix) explains the specific epithet, hederifolium.

Although it has naturalized in the Pacific Northwest, it is native to rocky woodlands and scrub in the Mediterranean region, from southern France to Turkey, and to islands in the Mediterranean Sea. This species is adaptable, readily self-seeds, and grows from sea level to about 4,000′ in elevation.

In late summer and autumn, pink flowers with darker eyes emerge among the silver-mottled leaves. Cyclamen needs gritty soil with lots of organic matter to keep it happy. Roots of this species emerge from the sides and the top of the tuber. Be careful not to cultivate the soil above the tuber, which will damage roots and the “floral trunks”, extensions of the tuber that bear flower buds.

Large tubers of the ivy-leaved cyclamen that I grew for sale arrived in mid summer. I potted them into 4½” pots, slightly bigger than the tubers. Half the soil consisted of drainage material. Coarse sand, pine fines, and small gravel (like PermaTill) mixed with potting soil in a 1:1 ratio encouraged roots to grow. But they rooted…very…slowly. Tubers rot in soil that holds too much water, so good soil preparation is important for long-term success.

Hardy cyclamen.

Rooted In and Around

Decades ago, in Maryland, I planted a C. hederifolium tuber in a friend’s front yard, under a young Japanese maple. About 10 or 15 years later, she asked if it could be dug and taken to her new house. After some exploration, I felt a flattened tuber the size of a dinner-plate! But it was pinned in position by the aggressive roots of the maple tree.

It could not be pried loose, so it remains there today. Planted where the soil dries out while the tuber is dormant was probably part of the key to success. The maple absorbed a great deal of the water in spring and summer.

More Hardy Cyclamen Species

Here are some of the hardy cyclamen species, listed from more cold-tolerant first:

hederifolium (USDA Zones 5-7): described above.
coum (Zones 5 or 6 to 8): 4″ tall, small dark green or variegated leaves with deep red reverse. Pink to purple blooms appear in late winter to early spring. Similar to parviflorum, but coum grows at lower elevations in northern Turkey, and the two don’t hybridize.
purpurascens (Zones 6-7): fragrant deep pink flowers in summer. Its silver-mottled foliage is nearly evergreen. Native to northern Italy and central Europe.
cilicium (Zones 6-8): white to pale pink flowers in fall to winter, and silver-mottled leaves.
mirabile (Zones 6-8): small flowers in autumn.
parviflorum (Zones 6-9): a green-leaved species, from 4,000′ to 7900′ elevation (alpine tundra, subalpine meadow) in northern Turkey. Small tuber, only ¾” across.
repandum (Zones 7-8): coarsely toothed leaf margins, silver-marbled.
graecum (Zones 7-9): Greek cyclamen blooms in autumn with white or pink, often fragrant, flowers. From southern Greece and southern Turkey.

Collectors grow many of the species cyclamen, keeping them year-round in cool greenhouses. Information on websites varies regarding bloom time, flower color, and leaf color. Rare species and forms of species are available from specialty nurseries and garden clubs.

It takes a few years for cold-hardy species to flower from seed. In the wild, seeds are coated with a sweet sticky substance, which attracts ants. They feed on the sweet part, and discard the seeds. This method of seed dispersal, by ants, is called myrmecochory, in case you were wondering.

**Because of dwindling native populations, be sure to ask for “nursery-propagated tubers”. This is not synonymous with “nursery-grown tubers”.**

*** * * * * * * ***

Florist’s Cyclamen

This is the species that is most widely grown for indoor cultivation.

Cyclamen persicum comes from rocky hillsides, up to 3900′ elevation, in south-central Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and in parts of northern Africa. It is also found in some of the Greek islands, where monks grew it and introduced it to traders.

Native populations of this species had fragrant pink flowers. Although much of the fragrance has been lost in hybridization, some modern strains, especially the miniature and intermediate varieties, once again have some scent. They don’t throw scent far from their flowers, so smell the flowers before purchasing if fragrance is what you want.

Cyclamen are available in autumn, during the winter holidays, and for Valentine’s Day. In cool regions, some garden centers offer them in early spring.

Flowers come in a wide range of colors, including white, pink shades, salmon, scarlet, deep red, burgundy, lilac, and shades of purple. They can be solid or bicolor, or finely edged in a contrasting color (“picotee”). Breeders have come up with micro miniatures, miniatures, intermediates, and large-growing standard strains.

Foliage differs from one strain to another, some showing little silver mottling, and others showing bold silver variegation. Leaf margins can be smooth, lobed, or somewhat toothed. Flowers, too, can vary in form, from smooth to ruffled to fringed.

Keep cyclamen away from children and animals. Ingestion can cause abdominal distress, seizures, and even death.

Combinations

A few miniature cyclamen and variegated English ivy in a clay pot.

These were fast sellers where I attended winter farmers’ markets in Olney MD, around Washington, D.C., and at the Carroll County Christmas shows in Westminster, MD.

In a Basket

‘Frosty’ fern (Selaginella sp.), a fern ally.

In cool conditions, group together cyclamen, kalanchoe, ‘Frosty’ fern, and lemon button fern. Add a small pot of English ivy to trail over the sides. Small grasses, such as mondo grass or Carex, add textural contrast to combinations.

I kept the plants in their pots, and snuggled them together in baskets lined with plastic. Add Spanish or green sheet moss, holiday ribbon or raffia, and maybe some small pine cones for the finishing touches.

Never allow water to collect in the bottom of a pot cover or a decorative container.

In a Pot

They also can be potted together. Use a shallow pot that snugly fits the root systems of the plants; keep them potbound.

The popular ‘Frosty’ fern, a Selaginella, develops white tips in cool conditions, and must be kept moist. More options include Norfolk Island pine, English ivy, and other plants that take the same conditions.

Clay pots allow soil to dry faster than non-porous pots. Potting cyclamen with other plants can be a bit tricky, especially if light levels are not optimal. Their tubers can rot in pots that are too large or if the soil is too wet.

Strains of Florist’s Cyclamen

Marbled cyclamen foliage.

Most customers aren’t concerned with the name of the cyclamen, but some are. A strain called Verrano tolerates higher, but not tropical, temperatures. The new Dreamscape strain performs well over a longer period of time. These are good choices for landscape beds in moderate to cool temperatures during the “shoulder” seasons, when they’re not exposed to frost.

A few of the miniature strains growers sell for indoors are Mini Winter (also good in cool, moist landscapes), Fantasia, and Snowridge Mini. Intermediate strains include Laser, Snowridge Midi, and Allure. For larger pots (5″ to 7″), growers offer Sierra, Mammoth, Fleur en Vogue, and Friller.

Strains with heavy silver variegation are beautiful even without flowers. Picasso (fragrant flowers) and Silverado are two popular miniature cyclamen strains. Rembrandt is an intermediate cyclamen, and Winter Ice is a larger standard with broad silver markings. Halios ‘White Silverleaf’ is a newer white-flowering cultivar with wide silver edging on the leaves. Metalis, an intermediate strain introduced in the 2020 California spring trials, has a broad silver margin, a green central heart, and can be used indoors and in the landscape.

Varieties coming to market are bred for leaf color, flower fragrance, and disease resistance. Breeders also are looking for larger bloom counts and for blooms that bunch in the center. Another variety in the 2020 spring trials is the heat tolerant ‘Leopardo’.

What About the Seedpods?

Remove seedpods to encourage more blooms.

We normally remove faded flowers and their stems, encouraging more flowers to form. But, sometimes, for fun, I let seedpods develop at the end of the bloom cycle.

The flower stem curls curiously downward, and the pod splits open when the seeds are ripe. A fully developed seedpod resembles a grape.

Florist’s cyclamen grow quite easily from seed; they just take a long time to get to flowering size. Older strains of cyclamen needed 15 to 18 months from seed to flower. Newer varieties take only half that amount of time.

Seeds germinate soon after ripening if planted about ¼” deep. They germinate better in the dark, in high humidity, and with temperatures in the mid 60’s F. Tiny cyclamen leaves emerge after the tuber has begun to grow. I used to grow seedlings in 9-cell market packs until they were ready, months later, for 4″ pots. To save time, however, I purchased pre-finished cyclamen to sell at garden shows after they bulked up and came into flower.

Headings

Page 1: It’s Time For Cyclamen!, Hardy Cyclamen—We Can Take the Cold (Cyclamen Hederifolium, Rooted In and Around, More Hardy Cyclamen Species), Florist’s Cyclamen (Combinations, Strains Of Florist’s Cyclamen), and What About the Seedpods?

Page 2: Starting Out With Cyclamen, Choosing Cyclamen, Water, They Like It Cool (Miniature Cyclamen Might Be Easier), On a Chilly Porch, Dormancy, New Digs (Potting Soil), Fertilizer for Cyclamen, Light, Deadheading Cyclamen, and For Further Research

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