Cyclamen in the midwest
Jane McGary (Mon, 30 Jul 2012 16:15:27 PDT)

Peter wrote

Actually the tuber of C. graecum doesn't have a "tap root." It has
quite a few stout perennial roots emerging from the bottom of the
tuber, and a kind of "neck" coming from the top, from the end of
which the leaves and flowers grow. I should know -- I just unpotted
and planted out 7 or 8 of them that were as much as 15 years old from
seed, and they are huge. As Peter suggests, mine will be under a
couple of inches of gritty soil and about 2 inches of gravel, among
chunks of tufa as they often grow in the wild (I can't provide terra
rossa soil, though). I put a lot of C. mirabile in the same bed; it
is a smaller, less showy species but has lovely foliage.

I just cleaned quite a bit of C. graecum seed and will send it to the
BX. I hope it mostly goes to California, where it ought to be grown
much more widely.

Rodger wrote that C. hederifolium should be planted just under
deciduous trees, and it does grow well in that kind of site, but it
also grows well here in the Northwest under conifers (and in lawns!).
I often recommend it for difficult dry sites under trees or shrubs
where little else will thrive. In nature I have seen it a lot under
pines and evergreen oaks, hollies, etc. The only problem is that you
have a bare space for a couple of months in summer.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA