I've had this one plant of Cyclamen hederifolium alba for at least 10 years now.
It's taken me a while to find the right spot for it in this climate. In other
climates I have seen Cyclamen hederifolium growing strongly in the shade under
trees, but here it's taken quite a while to develop size. As always, here in the
high desert, it's a matter of microclimate, of exposure and of moisture. I've
discovered that my plant likes it most in dappled shade. It is also happiest
with regular irrigation when it is leafed out, which is in the late fall through
winter and spring.
For the past couple of years, it has been in a better spot and it has grown. This is the most it has ever bloomed for me.
I love the shuttlecock flowers. If you were to lift up the mulch and trace each flower stem, you would see that each flower comes from the center of the one tuber lying just under the mulch, even though it looks like there are a number of plants here. When the flowers fade, the stems coil, bringing the seed pods to ground level. The seeds are said to be covered in saccharine, which the ants like and carry the seeds to new places to germinate. Mine has shown no signs of self-seeding though, even though I always live in hope.
