On 9 Sep 03 at 10:15, Jane McGary wrote: > After an unusually hot, dry summer... Cyclamen hederifolium looks > a bit unhappy; it is flowering as usual, but the flowers are not as > "plump" as I'd expect. The first rain since the beginning of July > fell yesterday, though, so I hope they will fatten up... One of the late, great gardeners of Vancouver Island, Dorothy Shaw, used to have legnedary plantings of cyclamen at her place on Quamichan Lake. I have been told by her one-time gardener that it was her practice to soak the cyclamen beds once a month during the summer. I have a funny idea that while cyclamen will survive drought, they prefer to have a certain degree of moisture present in the soil. She also top dressed her cyclamen with generous amounts of farm manure. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island