Cyclamen

[Shallot Man]

Local gardening centre are selling cyclamen for a pound each, many are coming to the end of blooming, I know they have been forced, but how long to recover if I put them out in the garden say in March.

[Tony Hague]

They will probably die if you put them outside - most of the showy flowered varieties on sale at Christmas are not hardy. There are about 20 species of cyclamen, and for outdoors you probably want Cyclamen Coum or Cyclamen Hederifolium, which are hardier types.

See The cyclamen society webite for all you could want to know.

[glallotments]

We bought some miniature cyclamen last year - not the outdoor varieties mentioned by Tony. They were being sold as outdoor hardy but within a week they were dead - I know this was down to the extreme conditions last year. A neighbour has had some planted in a hanging basket for a few months now - but again the conditions have been very mild this year.

So basically I think it depends how lucky you are with the weather. I grew some from seed this year but have kept them indoors.

[Shallot Man]

Many thanks for the reply's .