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Tim
| | Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 03:14 pm EST : |   
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I got home early today and spent a bit of time in glasshouses, looking for jobs to do at the weekend, seeing if anything needs watering and generally enjoying the plants. Every time I go in there, this plant catches my eye. I grew it from seed I got through the Cyclamen Society seed distribution scheme labelled as coum ex. CSE.
It is my favourite coum at the moment. I can't fault it. The leaf shape is good, the silver is actually silver and the 'christmas tree' zone in the middle is as dark green as it gets. Neither the silver or green blends into the other colour, which makes for a great contrast. The silver runs right to the edge of the leaf too.
The leaves look even better when they are wet, although this wasn't intentional. The glasshouse vents had been left open and we have had a day of rain. They are closed now and will stay closed for the winter.
With so many exceptional leaf photos being posted at the moment, I wonder what other GB's like to see. What 'does it' for you? Do your favourite characteristics vary between species? or is there something you like to see on the leaves of all species?
Tim
- Cambridgeshire,
Zone "7 "
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Carol23
| | Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 03:38 pm EST : |
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It's a beauty, Tim! The leaf isn't as rounded as most coum, either. I like the sharp contrast in color.
How old is this tuber, and what color are the flowers?
Carol23
- Southeastern PA,
Zone "6B"
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Tim
| | Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 03:57 pm EST : |
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No, it's not as rounded as most coum, Carol. I prefer a more heart shaped leaf on coum which is another reason I like this plant.
The tuber is five years old and the flowers are bright pink. The flower you can see to the right of this plant belongs to C. elegans, a silver leaf form. I have mature plants in flower plus several seedlings flowering for the first time.
Tim
- Cambridgeshire,
Zone "7 "
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Matthias
| | Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 04:00 pm EST : |
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Tim, that is a beauty and your photo skills capturing the leaves with those raindrops just put the plant in the right light. Excellent and congratulations!
Carol, I agree, that sharp contrast is great.
Matthias
- Southern Germany,
Zone "7"
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Jgwoodard
My Garden
| | Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 04:48 pm EST : |
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That one is striking Tim! I hope to add more spring cyclamen particularly. In autumn the loads of falling leaves obscure the plants unless I remove them, which I normally don't do until mid-late late February or so.
Jgwoodard
- TN,
Zone "7"
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Galanthophile
My Favorite Photo
My Garden
| | Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 05:08 pm EST : |
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Wow, that is some plant! Quite perfect. My preference in leaf form is for just such a contrast in colours. Shapes can vary (I'm not particular about that) but I really like the silver forms or the leaves that have several colours or different shades of the same colours.
Galanthophile
- Ann (Northern England),
Zone "8"
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Terryk
My Weather
My Garden
My Time
| | Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 05:17 pm EST : |
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Getting ready to sign off for a few hours and saw this, it is fantastic. The Christmas Tree pattern is nice, but this one is exceptional. As Matthias said, you captured it well in your photo Tim.
Terryk
- NY,
Zone "6"
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Carol23
| | Posted on Friday, November 17, 2006 - 05:26 pm EST : |
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Tim , do you know the country of origin on that expedition? I'm just curious.
Carol23
- Southeastern PA,
Zone "6B"
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Tim
| | Posted on Saturday, November 18, 2006 - 03:01 am EST : |
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It would have been Turkey, Carol, but I don't know what year.
Tim
- Cambridgeshire,
Zone "7 "
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Tony_willis
| | Posted on Sunday, November 19, 2006 - 10:56 am EST : |
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Tim what a super plant.
I was given a seedling by the Browns from their farrer Medal winning plant and here it is.It is a pig to grow and even the slightest bit of sun causes it to wilt so I grow it in full shade. It is just producing buds.
here is one of their pewter forms they gave me and some seedlings I am raising from it. You will see they are not uniform.
The last picture is of self sown seedlings in my front border
Tony_willis
- Lancashire,
Zone "7"
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Terryk
My Weather
My Garden
My Time
| | Posted on Sunday, November 19, 2006 - 11:33 am EST : |
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How lucky you are to be able to meet and obtain seedlings so readily. The bed looks great; is it a bed of coum or is there hederifolium in there?
I am enjoying all these posts, we are becoming a better forum each day!
Terryk
- NY,
Zone "6"
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Tony_willis
| | Posted on Sunday, November 19, 2006 - 11:57 am EST : |
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That is a hederifolium at the bottom of the picture.
I think the variation has arisen because I introduced some seedlings I raised from C coum Maurice Dryden which has lovely leaves and white flowers and this has proved a super one
to help the colony.
Tony_willis
- Lancashire,
Zone "7"
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Tim
| | Posted on Sunday, November 26, 2006 - 02:42 pm EST : |
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I've only just found the last few posts in this thread. That's a very nice patch of coum in your garden, Tony. It's interesting that the plants are self-sown. I planted a border of coum very close to the house a few years ago and the plants in that border seem to be struggling now. I expected a swathe of foliage this winter but that's not going to happen.
In contrast, I have some great self-sown coum around the garden. Well... almost self-sown... I have been scattering seeds around all over the place whenever I've had a glut, and the plants that have appeared as a result of those scatterings are doing very well. I often wonder if scattering seed in spots which show promise isn't the best way forward!
Tim
- Cambridgeshire,
Zone "7 "
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