Cyclamen: Indoors & Out

Cyclamen persicum is often called 'Florist Cyclamen' ~ to differentiate this tender indoor perennial from the hardy outdoor Cyclamen that flourishes in your shade garden.

I've been thinking about this movie, Death Becomes Her. Mostly because I had such a bad case of the flu that when I looked in the mirror I scared myself. After a few days of this misery, I had no choice but to head out into the cold, cruel world and stock up on supplies.

Cyclamen has tall, tuberous stems that wilt easily when the soil is too dry. Healthy Cyclamen stems have the strength to stand upright as the delicate flowers unfold.

Here's my theory about bumping into the man of your dreams. This never happens while you're wearing 5 pounds of make up and a flattering pair of jeans.

However! It is pretty much guaranteed to happen when you sneak into the drugstore in your jammies to quickly infect the clerk, grab more Theraflu and head back home, lickety split.

This is how I met my new window garden companion, Cyclamen persicum. We bonded instantly because she looked worse than I did!

Drooping out of her pot, on the $1 dollar sale table...

Seeing as how I was hiding back there, waiting for this nameless person to buy his damn stuff and leave, I had plenty of time to give her a check up. She was ailing from the same thing most sale table plants suffer from: attention.

Cyclamen requires moist soil for strong flowering. Goes dormant in hot temperatures. Her sweet heart-shaped leaves often turn yellow if she's in a too-hot sunny window.

So, I brought her home, removed her dead flowers and gave her a big drink of water. Overnight, she bounced back from death's door and became good friends with Alstroemeria. (If only gardeners could recuperate this quickly...)