Old Favorites From the East

Transplanted Easterners often miss old favorites such as peonies, lilacs, lily-of-the-valley and Oriental poppies. All of these plants need a degree of winter cold, which means that some won’t do well here. However, species of wild peonies are found in Greece and Portugal, and one even grows in Southern California, so some of the wild kinds obviously need less winter cold than the garden hybrids. And I have seen lily-of-the-valley growing thickly over an 8x8-foot area in Eagle Rock. They were growing with frost-tender cinerarias so, obviously, they had not been exposed to freezing temperatures. If you want to try any of these flowers for yourself, you must plant them now. Last year, Oriental poppies appeared at nurseries in flats, and when they were planted in the fall, they did well in the spring; they will not, however, behave as a perennial in Southern California. Cyclamen purchased in four-inch pots and then moved into six- or eight-inch pots will make glorious plants. Keep the top of the bulb exposed. Remove the stems of old flowers and leaves with a twist before they become mushy and damage the emerging flower buds. Cyclamen do best when they’re kept in a cool environment; that means that the temperatures of many houses (and hospitals) are too warm for them. They respond well to a regular light liquid feeding. Cyclamen bloom best when they’re root-bound, so don’t be surprised if they don’t bloom the first year or so after you move them to a larger pot. Their roots will be busy filling the pot instead.