(6) Cyclamen Coum (Primulaceae)

(6) Cyclamen Coum (Primulaceae) Description

Cyclamen Coum (Primulaceae)CATEGORYPRIMULACEAEBLOOMSSPRING & SUMMERHEIGHT10 CM

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The charming flowers and elegant foliage of this hardyCyclamen Coum are the highlights of any garden. A low, clump-forming, tuberous perennial, it is native from Eastern Bulgaria to Western Azerbaijan, with disjunct subspecies in Northwest Iran and the Levant.

Cyclamen Coum has received the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit (agm) which is for plants of outstanding excellence.

Relatively small, fuzzy tubers shaped like cheese wheels giving rise in autumn and summer  to deep-green, kidney-shaped to heart-shaped leaves with scalloped or toothed margins. The leaves of some plants have striking silver or pewter markins. The foliage remains attractive until dying back in mid to late spring. Flowers with five rounded to oval, backswept, shooting-star petals unfurl on short stalks during mild spells in winter or early spring. Dark pink-purple nodding flowers the petals usually have a white or pink eye-mark at the base. Although typically unscented, the flowers are sometimes sweetly fragrant. The flower stalks coil back to the ground as the spherical seed capsules develop. This Cyclamen forms colonies via the actions of ants, which harvest and distribute the sugary-coated seeds.

The Cyclamen is lovely planted in large sweeps. It also works well in rock gardens and containers, many cultivars have been selected for the colour or form of their flowers or leaves.

They grow and flower best in humus-rich, well drained, soil, it does well under deciduous trees, or in other sites that are sunny in winter and drier and shadier during its dormant season.

Plant the tubers in late summer or spring at a relatively shallow depth. Older tubers often grow out of the soil and require replanting.