Cyclamen africanum

I bought a cyclamen from John Lonsdale while at Pine Knot Farms' Hellebore Days in March. Not having much experience with growing cyclamen, John offered me some great advice on growing them. John is a leading expert on cyclamen, so his advice is invaluable.

First and foremost, it is not hardy a species to my zone 7 garden; I 've containerized it so all I have to do is carry it indoors when the cold comes. John told me to put it in full, hot sun and water periodically in summer and that should produce some great flowers for fall. Well, I've done nothing of the sort (it's mostly in shade) and I cannot believe my eyes with this little thing! I've had a few sporadic blooms over the last several weeks, foliage has been emerging sporadically for several weeks as well.

C. africanum is native to northern Algeria and Tunisia. From all I've read it looks a lot like C. hederifolium, just not hardy. And to me, it's far more exciting than the typical ones you find at Christmastime anyway, much as I adore them.