fall surprise: cyclamen

Bulbs are always a bit of a surprise to me. I know that I planted it, I know that it bloomed last year, but frequently I am preoccupied with other things in life, and even though I am occasionally looking for it at their time of year, when a flower pops up it can be a bit unexpected. This is especially true of those bulbs that don't put out leaves before they put out flowers. I looked to see if this cyclamen was alive a few weeks ago, and saw nothing. Today during some garden cleanup, I was pleasantly surprised to see this. Now I know it really is fall.

I've had this cyclamen for a number of years. It never gets big and impressive, like I've seen in photos. In the old house, it didn't even put out flowers some years. But it was one of the plants that I remembered to transplant to the new house, and it seems to be surviving if not spectacular. It is still a pleasure to see it poking out in the fall. In another month, I'll see if the Crocus speciosus survived from last year.