Six on Saturday - 20 November 2021

1. Getting involved with your local gardening club:

 During the week our Gardening Club's speaker was Jo Hayes.  I design and update our club's website, and each month I post about the forthcoming talk or event. Our talks organiser chooses excellent speakers, and we are very fortunate is having two members who are excellent speakers themselves.  After our talk this week by Jo Haynes, I hope that some members may start to grow or widen their interest in cyclamen, and indeed quite a few of Jo's plants were sold.  At £5 a pot some thought they were a little pricy at first, but were viewed in a different light, after she explained how long it took to grow the plants from seed, and that being the only way to propagate cyclamen.  I noticed there were more takers after that.  Hopefully next year, I shall have more takers for all the seeds that I collect. 

How and why I came to 'volunteer' to do the design and updating of the website as I had no previous experience, and just how far I have come, is thanks to the encouragement of the committee. Maybe it is just knowing that if I needed help, asking for it, would hopefully bring a solution, and if in doubt ask Mr Google! Using that same method only today I have learnt how to take a screen shot and save it, so that I can keep a record.  Jo kindly sent me a picture as I like to put up a little about our speaker. 

If you don't try you will never succeed....

I first heard Jo speak, in January 2019 at my regional branch of the HPS, where in addition to buying a pretty Cyclamen coum, I also bought seed of one variety.

As well as leading us through the year with the different species as they flower, she advised us of species to grow in the garden, and also ones which needed frost free conditions, or which at least require a cold greenhouse, Jo told us about her work as National Collection Holder, and the work of The Cyclamen Society, which has an annual seed distribution available to members.

Jo Hynes contact details as the National Cyclamen Collection holder are on the Plant Heritage Site.  

2. One of the original plants bought from Jo, at our first encounter,  is Cyclamen cilicium, I went out to take a picture of it and even now, after flowers are over,  it offers a pretty 'winter green' focus point in the gravel garden. Later on it completely disappears leaving the stage to other gravel garden plants.

3. Also grown from seed bought at the same time is Cyclamen graecum subs.candicum which I have risked growing in the gravel garden, where it certainly gets a good baking in the summer.  I wonder whether this is fool hardy of mef?  This is the second year, and the leaves are very interesting.  It will be another couple of years before they flower.

4. Released from its pot during the summer Cyclamen hederifolium Lysander, bought from John Massey's nursery provides delightful leaf cover at the foot of Ghislaine de Feligonde. The original source for this plant came from Taygetos mountains close to Sparta, and named after this ancient city's Greek Hero.

5. I planted the remainder of this year's hederifolium seeds and they are already germinating.

6. Did I buy any this time?  Just the one, which is a selected leaf form of Cyclamen hederifolium.

And I was tickled pink with a gift of a tiny little Cyclamen purpurascens, which will take some cossetting and guarding from slugs.  Jo advised me that of all the cyclamen this is perhaps the only one which the slugs go for. I had asked her if she grew these when I contacted her a few weeks ago.  This is a virtually evergreen cyclamen, which prefers shade, and which is said to have a wonderful  scent of Lily of the Valley, and used in the perfume industry. This one will be grown on the shaded side ledge and when in flower can then be moved to where the fragrance can be enjoyed.

Of course, I am not forgetting all the other cyclamen in the garden, but those will need to wait another time, and as for Jon: The Propagator, even though he has spent time running long distances and decorating, he still leads us by posting and has the confidence to show us his greenhouse which he is going to work on this weekend.  I am sure we shall have some 'after' pictures next week.