White Cyclamen coum with grey foliage - Eastern sowbread

This Cyclamen Coum, derived from the Cyclamen from the island of Cos, is an exceptionally refined variety that combines an almost white flowering with soft grey foliage. It is a small cyclamen resistant to cold and dry summers and relatively easy to grow in many regions. Depending on the climate, this variety blooms in late winter, earlier or later. Its foliage, usually evergreen in winter, disappears in summer. Plant it in partial shade or shade, under large deciduous trees, along a path, in a shaded rockery, where it will spread and multiply like a carpet.

Cyclamen Coum is a small perennial plant with tuberous roots belonging to the Primulaceae family. It is not native to the island of Cos, Greece, but rather to the mountains of Bulgaria, Turkey, and Lebanon, specifically Eastern Cilicia, where it is frequently found in shaded areas. This small species measures approximately 10 cm in height.

Cyclamen Coum has produced numerous forms with varied flowers and foliage, including this lovely white variety with grey foliage. Some producers have made it their speciality, notably Kwekerij Koen, who works on a small scale. Their nursery is located in Westland, Netherlands, and is known for its horticultural production. Kwekerij is passionate about hybridising botanical cyclamens: Cyclamen Coum, C. hederifolium, and C. purpurascens. They pollinate the parent lines with a brush, then collect the seeds, sow them, and later transplant them into pots. We are offering them exclusively today.

The tubers of Cyclamen Coum are rounded and compressed, measuring up to 6.5 cm in diameter, and are covered with a smooth and velvety "skin" and equipped with roots that originate from their centre and base. The foliage generally develops in autumn after a dry summer. It may sometimes appear at the same time as the flowers in February in cool and humid climates. The leaves, rounded, measure 4 to 5 cm in diameter. The variety presented here is uniform velvety grey, heart-shaped. Their undersides are coloured purple-pink. As soon as the soil dries out a bit in June, the foliage disappears, and the plant goes into dormancy. This variety is resistant to our average winters, but a layer of dead leaves will be beneficial in case of prolonged frost.

The flowering of the white Cyclamen Coum with grey foliage occurs between mid-February and the end of March, depending on the climate. The pointed flower buds, initially lying on the ground, stand upright on reddish peduncles. Each flower, quite stout, measuring 1 to 2 cm in length, is composed of 5 petals that range from pinkish-white to white, with rounded edges, curved backwards. The base of the petals has a purple macule. After pollination, the flower gives way to a small round fruit, with the floral stem spiralling to allow the fruit to come into contact with the ground. Ants, which delight in their sweet flesh, disperse the seeds.

Plant Cyclamen Coum in a planter on the windowsill to enjoy it up close. In the garden, mix the varieties, creating a carpet. They will multiply on their own over the years, forming unforgettable scenes in slightly shaded and dry areas of the garden, which are difficult to landscape. The cyclamen is a perfect plant for enhancing the base of a deciduous tree in an understory soil, with white hellebores, for example. It is resistant to cold, but its tuber fears excessive moisture in winter and summer and does not tolerate complete drying out in summer. It will find its place in a partially shaded rockery, not too dry, in the company of blue shades of Anemone blanda and hepaticas, for example. To have two flowering periods, plant Cyclamen cilicicum and Cyclamen de Naples for autumn flowering.