Cyclamen Purpurescens
 

Just wanted to give a heads up to my orchid friends who like other fragrant flowering plants, Cyclamen purpurescens is a real winner. It has a strong rose like fragrance, has just about the most attractive variable foliage in the foliage game, prolific blooming, and hardy down to zone 5.

It really puzzles me how this isn't in everyone's top 3 perrenials. Better than the more popular Cyclamen persicum (florist cyclamen) in hardiness and fragrance

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e2ca5fc9_o.jpgUntitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...38f42138_o.jpgUntitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

What a delight. I have a dedicated patch of cyclamen hederifolium in my garden in the UK and really enjoy the sight when they start to bloom. It is so difficult to get the florist cyclamens these days. I grew from seed many years ago and had a terrific indoor display but again good quality seed has also disappeared from the market here. I have had reasonable success in recent years by propagating available plants by splitting corms. I guess they have just gone out of fashion these days.......maybe another casualty of Phalaenopsis!

They're not that easy to grow in most of the US. The Pacific Bulb Society forum often includes these. The PBS has a seed exchange several times of the year, when seed of Cyclamen may be available. There is a separate exchange for the EU. I haven't paid attention to how they're dealing with Brexit.