December | 2019 | Garden Variety Life

My favourite Cyclamen is the winter-blooming Cyclamen Coum. Its bright flowers stand out in the drizzling winter gloom of southern Vancouver Island.

hardy cyclamen coum, persian violet, eastern sowbread, round-leaf cyclamen,C. coum garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

The decorative leaf appears in September once the summer temperatures begin to drop. It’s a promise of blooms to come. By late December, tiny buds show themselves. When it’s even colder & I’m more desperate for flowers, c.coum begins to bloom. By February & March its in full celebration in Victoria.

Hardy cyclamen are known to naturalize well where they’re native (Turkey). Here, in the Pacific Northwest, they’re just as happy. The climate is similar enough.

I planted 3 C. coum around the base of our Gravenstein apple tree in 2009. Ten years later, I’m rewarded with several naturalizing in the grass. The furthest is about 6 feet away!

My fingers are crossed for blooms in the lawn this February! I reckon they’ll be reasonably safe, as C is less likely to mow that early. When he brings the lawnmower out in March, I’ll ask him to cut at its highest setting.

Cyclamen coum is a mild-mannered plant. It can easily be out-competed by the autumn-blooming Cyclamen hederifolium. I am careful to keep the dominating c.hederifolium far away from our treasured c. coum.

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The solstice has passed, so it’s officially winter. With that, the joy of winter jasmine presents itself in our garden.

Many years ago, Dad brought me a cutting of a plant he found blooming on New Year’s Day. It turns out, Jasminum nudiflorum can bloom even earlier than that! The first of the flowers started to appear in November. Most years, it’ll keep blooming right into spring, finishing up in April.

winter jasmine, winter-flowered jasmine, jasminum nudifolium, Jasminum sieboldianum, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

I’m happy with this low maintenance, winter bloomer. It doesn’t demand a precious Full Sun location. In 10 years, I’ve never pruned it. Aside from just a bit of water through the driest months, it requires no attention. It’s hardy to zone 6, so our occasional coastal snowstorm hasn’t ever phased it. (Isn’t zone 8-9 grand?)

The branches have no clinging tendrils, & it doesn’t twine around supports like a vine. I weave new growth through the trellis to lift the blooming branches up to eye level.

When one branch lay on the ground, it sprouted roots, creating another plant. That turned out to be a bonus – – not a worry. Winter jasmine is not a bully at all.

Our trellis hosts