What does Southern Vancouver Island have in common with Turkey on the Mediterranean?
Hardy Cyclamen.

Cyclamen hederifolium is native to Turkey,  and that climate is quite like ours.
Would you’ve guessed?
So it kinda makes sense:
What prospers there…
prospers here.

Hardy Cyclamen likes our dry summer.  It goes dormant. Later, the cooling temperatures & returning rain of September triggers the awakening.  One morning flowers are popping out of the ground & dancing in the dappled shade.  What a lovely surprise. Flowers in autumn!
(Plus, what a bonus – a pretty plant that doesn’t need me dragging around a garden hose… AND one that’s happy in those tough-to-garden spots under trees!)

After pollinators do their thing, the flower stems curl into tight coils, pulling the seed pods to the ground.  Leaves emerge, protecting the pods from our winter wind & rain.  How tidy is that?   I never feel the urge to deadhead.   (Extra bonus – decorative foliage that stays green through our long, glum winter.  And IF we get snow & severe cold, the cyclamen survives to -28C  a colder winter than we’re likely to get.)

While so much of the garden is going nuts through spring, Cyclamen hederifolium is wrapping up its display. The leaves die back, revealing the maturing seed pods. A matt of balls on coil springs remind me where the plant is preparing for sleep.  Doesn’t it look GROOVY?

Ants think it’s pretty groovy, too.  The seeds are coated with a sweet film.  Ants gather them & take them home to feed the masses.
Win – Win – Win.
Ants get a treat.
The seed is sown.
And the gardener has a new no-fuss plant.

What an ingenious system for naturalizing through the garden … and beyond.

Barely noticeable little seedlings sprout in lawns & woodland parks alike.  Eventually, the tiny corms can grow to the size of dinner plates.
Welcome or not.

I grow a few varieties of Hardy Cyclamen. Over 10 years, I’ve noticed a couple baby plants growing near their parents.  I’m particularly fond of the February bloomer Cyclamen coum.

C. coum is a timid seeder in comparison with the C. hederifolium.  The fall bloomer out-competes the winter bloomer.  I’m very careful to keep each cyclamen variety in its own bed.

Believe it or not — C. hederifolium is on the District of Saanich’s Invasive Plants list!  It naturalizes that well around here.  It must out-compete more than just the C. coum.

I have to admit to still holding a torch for these funky plants.
Does it count in my favour that I’ve dug some cyclamen invaders out of a couple wild parklands?
They’ve been planted in spots they’re not likely to escape without notice…

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