The Cyclamen - Not Just a Pretty Face!
A member of the primrose family, the pretty cyclamen grows around the Mediterranean and is a winter-flowering plant. With delicate silvery-green markings on their heart-shaped leaves, and butterfly-like upswept petals, this unique and beautiful flower adds colour and splendor to the colder months. The name ‘cyclamen’ is derived from the Greek ‘kuklos’, meaning ‘circle’, probably due to the round tuber from which the leaves, flowers and roots grow. In most species, leaves come up in the fall, grow through the winter, and then die in spring. The plant then becomes dormant through the hot summer and then the cycle begins again. Cyclamens prefer cooler conditions but are not frost-hardy. Water only when the soil just below the surface is...