Looking after a cyclamen
By Dorothea
Hampshire,
United Kingdom 
a cyclamen coum with 20 or so little bulbs growing out of it has appeared in my garden - on the surface of the soil in a built up flower bed under an old blackthorn tree. What should I do - cover it with compost? take the bulbs off at some stage and plant them separately? Leave it alone?
21 Jun, 2010
Answers
Are the "bulbs" attached to what looks like a coiled watch spring? They could be the spherical seed pods if they are.
21 Jun, 2010
Good thought, Fractal, I was wondering what the bulbs attached to the corm could be. If the original corm is in a good position in the garden then I would do nothing and let it seed itself around, Dorothea. If you want some coum in another place then watch for the seedheads starting to burst open and then sprinkle a couple of pods full somewhere else in the garden and hope that they grow.
22 Jun, 2010
Or let the ants do it for you.
22 Jun, 2010
Thank you all. I've added a photo for Bulbaholic: sorry for the Martian Mushroom slur in the photo title: we are a family of garden ignorami. I planted cyclamen (nursery plants, and some bulbs) in this bed last year: its the perfect place for them, but this seems to have materialised of its own accord. It's in a built-up bed about 3m square round the base of two blackthorns: previous owners have evidently tried to make a civilised rockery and failed. Nothing much grows in it apart from woodland plants, fritillary and crocus and self-sown bluebells - which is fine with me. There's a tiny purple flower like a miniature hardy geranium in flower now which I hope will spread, as it looks a bit naked in summer, and a remnant of sedum has decided not to die after all, but to grow rather large.
The whole garden is less than 10m square, and is 2/3 gravel and paving, 1/3 shady garden bed: and this is a valuable bit of ancient hedgerow fighting back.
22 Jun, 2010
They are indeed seed heads, Dorothea. If you have nowhere else to sow them then I would just let well alone. As Owdboggy points out, the ants will help to move them around - lots of pleasant surprises in years to come.
22 Jun, 2010
They are not ripe yet, so wait until they begin to split if you do decide to sow the seeds elsewhere. No trouble to do, just scatter them where you want plants and let them do their own thang!
22 Jun, 2010
Thank you, I'll let well alone.
22 Jun, 2010
leave it alone. mine are on the surface and i have one over 8"in diameter.
welcome to GoY too :o)
21 Jun, 2010