Cyclamen

Meet cyclamen, the winter flower with its petals swept back like a rider leaning into the wind. Each bloom nods on a slim stem above a mound of heart-shaped, silver-marbled leaves, in white, pink, red, magenta or lavender, and NC State describes the flowers as fragrant. A pot of it by a door in December is among the neatest pieces of colour a Dubai winter has to offer.

It belongs to the Mediterranean hills. Wikipedia places Cyclamen persicum from south-central Turkey to the Levant, growing on open rocky slopes, mostly on limy soil, and says the plant goes dormant in summer because of heat and dryness. NC State recommends cool temperatures of about 18 °C and bright indirect light. Dubai gives it exactly that for a few months, between December and March, and not at all in summer.

So the mood is seasonal and slightly precious: a pot to buy in flower in November, enjoy for three months in bright shade, and replace or rest when the heat returns. It is a flower to place carefully, and one to keep away from pets.

Cyclamen persicum, the florist's or Persian cyclamen, is a tuberous perennial in the primrose family, Primulaceae. NC State gives a height and spread of 15 to 23 cm, flowers from early winter to spring over about three months, and a need for bright indirect light and rich, well-drained soil, watered at the pot's edge or base, never over the crown. Wikipedia says it is a popular Valentine's Day gift as a potted plant, and that the plant goes dormant in summer. NC State is specific: when the plant goes dormant in summer, the leaves turn yellow and drop off.

Dubai's mean maximum is 26.5 °C in December, 24.4 °C in January and 26.1 °C in February, with January's mean minimum at 15.3 °C, so the coolest months come close to NC State's recommended 18 °C. Bayut names cyclamen among the winter flowers of the UAE. In spring, as the mean high climbs to 33.7 °C in April and 38.2 °C in May, the plant has no cool season left. We found no UAE source on carrying cyclamen through summer or on its re-flowering in Dubai, so treat it as a winter purchase.

Dubai shops list it: Plantsworld sells 'Cyclamen Swinebread - Outdoor Seasonal Flowering', and Plantshop.me lists cyclamen among its indoor plants. We found no Dubai Municipality or UAE nursery source on planting dates, so the windows below are our reading of the cool season. The ASPCA lists cyclamen as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, because of terpenoid saponins, with the tubers the dangerous part; NC State says the tubers are poisonous if eaten raw.