Wild, hardy cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium) does well in a shady to partly sunny area. (C) Elizabeth Bakusov/123rf.com
The trees have finally started to drop their leaves for fall and much of the color of the season now lays on the ground.
The best tool for dealing with leaves is a mulching mower. Mulched leaves are about the best soil amendment you can have and its free. All you have to do is mow the leaves, leaving the little bits on the lawn. The bits decompose and add trace amounts of nutrients to the soil.
All over my neighborhood, the leaf blowers are in full force. A leaf blower is a great tool for moving leaves into the flower beds as natural mulch and nature’s No. 1 soil amendment. The leaves help insulate perennials and as they decompose, add nutrients to the soil.
Volunteers and members of the hort department are planting 150,000 spring bulbs at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for the largest bulb display in IMA history. Photo courtesy Irvin Etienne
And, there’s still plenty of time to get spring-blooming bulbs planted. Over the last few weeks, hundreds of volunteers have been planting 150,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, muscari and other spring bulbs at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It’s called Bulbapalooza and is the largest planting of spring bulbs in the history of the IMA. Just think how gorgeous the grounds will be next spring.
Volunteers will get a pass that allows free entry to visit the grounds next spring so they can see their handiwork.
This year, I’m planting something new in my yard, a hardy cyclamen (C. hederifolium). We’re probably all familiar with the florist cyclamen (C. persicum), a seed-grown plant found around Easter.
The flowers of hardy and florist cyclamen look similar as do the leaves. But where one is grown as a houseplant, the hardy cyclamen is a late summer bloomer in the garden. It will spread and naturalize a bit and with its mottled leaves, act as a little ground cover throughout the summer.
These are small plants, only about 6 inches tall, with about a 12 inch spread, so they will have to go someplace where they won’t get overshadowed by their companions. Grow hardy cyclamen in part shade. Mine are going along the edge of some hosta.
The cyclamen fulfills my mission to try something new, so I’m looking forward to
