Cyclamen - going up or coming down?
OK I know this is such a basic question but I've never really looked closely at cyclamen before so...
This round thing in the picture - is that a new bud that is about to curl up and flower, or is it a spent flower that is about to curl down and die? I started deadheading these (whatever they are) this morning but then I had a panic that I was actually cutting off all the new blooms!
Many thanks from yours clueless 
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looks like a seed head, but don't deadhead, you'll get seed and therefore free plants eventually!
if you leave them to fall and germinate then next year with a bit of luck, you'll get these -
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/plants/baby-cyclamen/515336.html
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
From the picture, that's the one sold as hardy, but isn't really. Lots of bright colours, whites, reds, several shades of pink. That is the seed head pictured and I don't think any seed produced will be viable. Whereas, cyclamen coum and c. hederifolium are truly hardy and will spread about happily.
H-C
Agree with HC, looks like the indoor type (C. persicum) which can be used as bedding but aren't frost hardy. However, the seeds are indeed viable and can be sown in a pot or seed tray (press them into the surface and cover with a thin layer of grit, keep damp although they may take weeks to germinate.) They make great houseplants and the perfume from one plant can fill a room.
Last edited: 27 September 2016 11:42:23
And the stems of cyclamen seedheads do wonderful things, just watch them coiling themselves like a spring to bring the seedhead down to soil level and therefore in the right place to germinate - ain't nature wonderful
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Last year I had a pot with some of the cyclamen sold for containers but which are not the genuine hardy variety (as described by hortum-cretae). I had it near my front door so it had some shelter. When the original plant gave up the ghost I left the pot as it was, still watering it, and hey presto, after some time I had a pot full of small cyclamen seedlings! I've no idea what colour they will be and it may take ages before they actually flower, but the anticipation is what is so fascinating about gardening.
With regard to your seedheads, I agree, don't cut them off, just leave them to set themselves around the area and you will get plants for free. All very exciting. My hardy cyclamen have done the same and spread nicely around my shady border (both hederifolium and coum varieties) and they are a welcome sight.
Many thanks all for the feedback - I will leave them alone and let them do their coily thing!
I have to admit to finding the whole hardy/not-hardy aspect confusing. There are lots of different types in my gardening centre but when I bought some last year that I was told were not hardy they survived and bloomed all the way through winter (even survived snow!).
Sometimes the pots are not labelled either, so I guess I have to assume they are the bedding variety that won't come back next year if left outside. I don't know what these ones I have are, they're in a container in a sheltered part of the porch but I will leave them alone for now.
And yes @BobTheGardener I hadn't realised until this year what an incredible perfume they also have!
I can't believe I've spent most of my life walking past these tiny little wonders without properly appreciating their magic. I mean look at this - it's a miniature work of art!
Thanks everyone
i have some of these at the front of my border! Love them!!