Cyclamen africanum
One of my favourite place in Kew, the dramatic clam-shell of the Davies Alpine House – though if I am honest, I prefer the more traditional layout at RHS Wisley, with a matched pair of raised benches and specimen pots sunk into sand. The plants are all at just the right viewing height and I don’t need to lie full stretch on the floor for just the right photograph of one of the floor-dwellers at Kew! Then again, this stunning building, adjacent to the Princess of Wales conservatory and at the top of the Alpine Garden, is gorgeous – and I think I have previously posted photos of the interior with the massive twin shade ‘sails’ erected.
This beauty, Cyclamen africanum, has huge leaves and an abundance of flowers – shy little things, hiding beneath their leafy canopy. As with everything, there is a dedicated Cyclamen website where much more information can be obtained for the Cyclamen aficionado
http://www.cyclamen.org/africanu.htm
Davies Alpine House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
More Cyclamen in the Alpine House –
Cyclamen hederifolium f. forma
Another choice Cyclamen, perhaps a little more common and as happy in the Alpine House as underplanted beneath deciduous trees, making room between congested tree roots and thriving in such demanding positions, flowering first – leaves following later in the Autumn
Cyclamen rohlfsianum – with unusual, patterned leaves more akin to a summer geranium in shape, but unmistakably a cyclamen. Another one of the specimens exhibited at floor level…
The Teddington Gardener 