Winter wonders
NEED INSTANT COLOUR TO BRIGHTEN UP YOUR FEBRUARY GARDEN? THEN IT’S TIME TO PLANT SOME CYCLAMEN
YOU know what it’s like – in February, spring seems as far away as it will ever be after almost four months of winter weather, be it mild and grey or cold and bright.
What you really need is a shot in the arm that can only be provided by brilliant colour. The great thing is that a trip down to the local nursery or garden centre will provide a solution.
There you’ll find all manner of things growing in pots that are tough enough to resist the chilly weather and bright enough to gladden your heart. Tough and bright and diminutive in stature are hardy winter cyclamen coum.
These fuller-flowered types withstand frosts that would make their softer relations curl up and die.
Their heads might bow down a little in severe weather but as soon as the temperature rises above freezing they spring up, none the worse for their ordeal.
The flowers of white, pink, cerise or magenta are shown off against attractively marbled leaves that carpet the ground like a dark green and slate grey rug, and if they are happy the plants will seed themselves and thicken as a colony over the years.
They like a spot in dappled shade, in soil that is welldrained and has been enriched with plenty of well-rotted leaf mould that will hold on to moisture through the summer when the plants are not much in
Buy plants growing in pots now and plant them 9in apart so that the corms (the fat storage organs) evidence. are only fractionally below the surface of the soil.
After planting they can be mulched with a fine grade of chipped bark that will stop them from being splashed by mud and provide a perfect seedbed where young plants will spring up. These winterflowering cyclamen are a perfect companion for Lenten hellebores and can be scattered among these as ground cover. So, if you’re a bit down in the dumps and need a pickme-up, look sharp.
Colour this bright will not stay in the garden centre for long and is an investment – your colony will grow year on year.
Marbled leaves carpet the ground like a green and slate rug