Cyclamen at the cemetery

06 Sunday Oct 2024

Tags

autumn colour, cyclamen, flowers at the cemetery, mass flowering of cyclamen, naturalised plants

These are probably not wildflowers in the strict sense of the word, but more likely the offspring of a single plant that was placed on a grave in memory of a lost loved one. Yet, over the years, these cyclamen have escaped the confines of the concrete edging around the grave, to spread and naturalise in the surrounding grass and across neighbouring graves, providing this glorious display of autumn colour. What better way to celebrate the life of those we lose than with flowering plants as beautiful as these!

241006 cyclamen

Sowbread

19 Tuesday Oct 2021

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

autumn-flowering Cyclamen, British wildflowers, cyclamen, Cyclamen hederifolium, naturalised Cyclamen

What a fabulous sight these flowers were during a recent meander around one of Cardiff’s cemeteries!

211019 cyclamen (1)

These are Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium), which may once have been a single bulb planted on a loved one’s grave by a grieving relative that have now spread and become naturalised, a common occurrence in the churchyards of southern Britain. They certainly brighten up the autumn landscape with their gorgeous subtle shades of lilac and purple.

211019 cyclamen (2)

Why Sowbread? Well, according to the National Records Scotland website, ‘It is often referred to as sow bread because the corms looked like small loaves and were thought to have been favoured by pigs in the wild.’ The website is worth a look for the other interesting information it provides.

Green fingers?

06 Thursday Dec 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, plants

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

cyclamen, flowering cyclamen, green fingers, growing cyclamen from seed, growing houseplants, growing seeds, pink flowers

It seems constantly to be raining here at the moment, which is limiting my opportunities to get outdoors with the camera. Luckily, lovely little things are happening indoors and so I’m taking this opportunity to show off my green fingers … though, in truth, I didn’t actually get this process right and it’s all happening in spite of my efforts rather than because of them.

181206 cyclamen (1)

I bought these beautiful cyclamen plants almost two years ago, to add some colour to my new flat and, except for a short rest period each year during the heat of summer, they’ve flowered almost constantly ever since. (I really must re-pot them next time they rest.)

181206 cyclamen (4)

When I noticed a couple of the expired flowers had developed into seed heads, I thought I’d have a go at growing more plants. I googled for instructions, extracted the seeds, popped them in some potting mix and waited.

181206 cyclamen (2)

Initially, nothing happened and I had actually given up on them but, it seems they need the cold to trigger their growth as, since the cooler weather has arrived, they have begun popping up.

181206 cyclamen (3)

The earliest sprouters are now about thumb height, with tiny second and third leaves just coming through. On yet another grey day, I sit here imagining a whole windowsill of pink lusciousness!

‘Like a flight of butterflies’

13 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#FloralFriday, cyclamen, houseplant

171013 Cyclamen (3)

‘… a cyclamen that looks like a flight of butterflies, frozen for a single, exquisite moment in the white heart of Time …’ ~ Beverley Nichols, Down the Garden Path, 1931

As you may have guessed, this is not a wild cyclamen but rather one of my houseplants. I bought it in flower back in February and it has just started flowering again. I actually have two this colour – the other has buds but they’re not yet open, and another cyclamen that has white blooms, also in bud. I love the little burst of colour they bring to my bedroom windowsill.

Wild about cyclamen

05 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by sconzani in autumn, flowers, nature

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

autumn colour, autumn flowers, cyclamen, Cyclamen hederifolium, Wild cyclamen

It must be autumn – even if I chose to ignore the cooler evenings, the nights drawing in and the falling leaves, I can’t ignore the gorgeous cyclamen flowering in my local park!

160905 Wild Cyclamen (1)

The Wild cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium) is not native to Britain – it hails from the Mediterranean countries, though has, over time, made its way into more northern European countries, including Britain, where garden escapees have gradually become naturalised in many of the southern counties and here in Wales.

The word cyclamen comes originally from the Greek for circle, cyclamīnos, which is a nod to its round-shaped tuber, and the species name, hederifolium, is a combination of the Latin hedera (meaning ivy) and folium (meaning leaf), which refers to the shape and patterns on cyclamen leaves. More interesting though is its common name, sowbread, which apparently came about because pigs like to eat cyclamen, a fact reflected not only in the English common name but in several other languages as well: pain de pourceau in French, pan porcino in Italian, varkensbrood in Dutch, and ‘pigs’ manjū’ in Japanese.

160905 Wild Cyclamen (2) 160905 Wild Cyclamen (3)