pink cyclamen flower

An In-Between Time

Posted on by Ann Mackay

Spring is getting closer but it certainly isn’t here yet. Sometimes February can feel mild and spring-like, but this year it has felt colder and snowy. I haven’t been in the garden much in the last week or two.

Apart from the hellebores which are starting to emerge, there has been a lack of flowers outside. Happily, the cyclamen plants have been busy flowering indoors to cheer us up. This year they seem to have lasted longer than usual – I think that’s because they’re in a cool conservatory.

Ruffled pink cyclamen flower

It feels like it’s not quite either winter or spring as I wait for the garden to come alive again with fresh growth. Meanwhile, I wanted something interesting to do. A plant I could photograph indoors so that I wouldn’t have to face the cold. These little flowers are ideal for that.

The rich colours and swirling shapes of the cyclamen flowers make them an obvious photographic subject. All those crinkles, curls and serrated edges give the petals a sense of drama and energy. Altogether, these features make the flowers look as if they’re in motion. The slight sheen of the petal surfaces suggests silk, making the flowers look like small pieces of fabric, fluttering in a breeze.

Cyclamen flowers

Alternatively, you could imagine that the flowers are tiny dancers, skirts swirling as they perform some graceful and athletic pirouette. Come in closer to the flower and that feeling of energy is magnified by all the curves and twists of the petals. Your eyes follow the lines made by the delicate veins, increasing the feeling of movement and strengthening the illusion.

Fun to photograph and glorious colour to combat the winter greys – I wouldn’t want to be without cyclamen at this time of year. Soon the spring flowers will be flaunting their brilliance and freshness, but for the last few weeks, it’s the cyclamen that have gladdened my heart.

Cyclamen flower

Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

25 thoughts on “An In-Between Time”

  2. I never would have guessed that these are cyclamen. I never seen them with anything other than smooth edges, both flowers and leaves. I suppose these are a cultivar of some sort; they certainly are pretty.

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    1. Here these are ‘florist’s cyclamen’ and I believe they’ve had a lot of breeding to get all those ruffled edges. Very different from the garden cyclamen – which I also love.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. What a beautiful and delicate flower Anne! They look like they would be fun to photograph. The color is fabulous. We have not had that bad a winter here, but the Oak pollen is driving anyone with allergies crazy! At least that means Spring is on its way here too!

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    1. Thanks Syd! I find it really useful to have a few plants growing in containers – makes them easy to photograph inside. (And these cyclamen aren’t hardy, so they live indoors.)

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  6. Like LInda, I’ve not seen cyclamen flowers with those attractive crinkled petals. We’ve never had much luck with them and I’ve stopped buying them for the house plants. Yours are very lovely and lovingly photographed.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I find it hard to keep them going for long, but these have done fine for their second year – I wonder if they’ll make it to year 3. I hope so! (Apparently the Dutch, who have such a big houseplant industry just treat houseplants as disposables and throw them away after they’ve flowered. Seems sad to me!)

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  7. Hello Ann,
    I also didn’t recognize this plant as a cyclamen at first glance, but when I looked at your photos taken from different angles I remembered having seen this kind of frilled version before. It’s gorgeous and one can never go wrong with pink. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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