Cyclamen has showy flowers which flare upward from the stem; tender foliage has heart shaped leaves. It makes a great house plant as well as a bedding plant. The flowering period extends from October to March.

Even the foliage is attractive, often having silver marbling on the top sides of the leaves.

To those of you who are new to the more organic way of gardening, here are a few tips:

Monitoring — that means catching problems when they are small. For example, rose slugs chew holes in the leaves from the underside. Watch for them when they are small and easier to control. Once they get large it's more difficult to slow them down. A regular spray with Dr. Earth Rose & Flower Insect Spray about once a week will suffocate the eggs or young larvae. Bonide All Seasons Spray Oil also works well as an organic spray. Follow label directions.

Another control is to keep a water supply close by to attract birds. Larger birds often like worms, caterpillars and such. Smaller birds — especially hummingbirds — will keep the aphid population down. Keep bushes hosed off and that should help with most insects.

A Rose History Lesson:

Species roses have been growing wild for hundreds or thousands of years. Early Romans loved roses and used them in many ways, even as medications. Early Christians used rose pictures in stained glass windows of medieval churches. The rose garden of Josephine, first wife of Napoleon, at Malmaison, is still in existence. It contains almost 250 different roses, mostly distinct species and natural hybrids.

China roses and ever-blooming types came from the Orient. The Bourbon roses from Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean, are also ever-blooming.

Hybrids between ever-blooming China roses and Rosa Moschata led to the Noisette roses. The 'Hybrid Perpetuals' were developed from mixed parentage. These were crossed with tea roses from China, resulting in the first hybrid tea rose, known as 'La France,' in 1867. Thus any rose introduced before 1867 is classified as an Old Rose. *

The subdivision of Old Garden Roses:

• Alba — Usually white or pale pink with gray-green leaves. Once flowering.
• Bourbon —First repeat flowering roses. Very fragrant.
• Centifolia — "Cabbage" roses. Over 100 petals. Once blooming.
• Damask — Very fragrant. Usually white, pink or red. Some bloom once, others repeat.
• Hybrid China — Open plants. Repeat flowering. Need winter protection north of zone 7.
• Hybrid Gallica — Pink, red or purple. Intense fragrance. Once flowering.
• Hybrid Perpetual — Repeat flowering. Pink, red or sometimes white.
• Moss — Centifolia roses. Have slightly sticky green or brown moss like growth on flower stems and buds. Fragrant and mostly once blooming.
• Noisette — Large sprawling plants with clustered fragrant flowers.
• Portland — Very fragrant. Repeat blooming. Usually with pink flowers. Sometimes called Damask Perpetuals.
• Tea — Repeat flowing. Usually light yellow, pink or white. Few thorns.

*Old Roses tend to grow tall and wide. Give them room.

Again, thanks for your participation.  This week — an easy question and a short answer.

This Week's Question:  What is the botanical name of the Transvaal daisy?

This Week's Prize:  a 5 gallon rose bush of the winner's choice (just in time for fall planting).

Many of the plants we call bulbs aren't bulbs at all. It's become common to lump together under this term not only true bulbs, but all plants that grow from a thickened or bulbous storage organ. (Plants like daylilies, clivia, and iris are in a shady area between bulbs and perennials, so you find them discussed in books on bulbs and also in books on perennials.) Here's how bulbs differ so you can tell them apart.

True Bulb

A modified subterranean leaf bud, the true bulb has a basal plate, above which are food-storing scales (rudimentary leaves) surrounding a bud that contains the magic makings of a plant. Some bulbs, like onions, tulips, and daffodils, are tunicate — they're covered with a papery skin. Others, like lilies, are imbricate — they have overlapping scales.

Corm

A thickened subterranean stem that produces a plant. The inside is just a solid piece of tissue. The buds are on top. After bloom the old corm is used up, but new ones have grown on top or at the sides to take its place. Gladioli, sparaxis, and freesia grow from corms.

Rhizome

A thickened stem or branch that grows on the surface of the ground or horizontally underground, such as bearded irises and calla lilies.

Tuber

A thickened stem that serves as a storage chamber but is usually shorter, thicker, and rounder than a rhizome. It grows totally or partially underground. Tuberous begonias, cyclamen, and potatoes grow from tubers.

Tuberous Root

Growing underground, this differs from a tuber in that it's a swollen root rather than a thickened stem. Tuberous roots have growth buds on top in the old stem portion, from which spring the plants. Dahlias and sweet potatoes grow from tuberous roots.

Cymbidiums are largely terrestrial orchids native to cool tropical jungles, from the Himalayas eastward through southern Asia. For at least two hundred years they were hybridized and grown in cool greenhouses by English collectors.

During World War II many varieties were sent to Santa Barbara, California to save them from the bombs. It soon became clear that cymbidiums flourish outdoors in Southern California. They multiplied so rapidly that when the loaned varieties were sent home after the war more plants were left in Southern California than were sent home.

They've since become one of the country's best plants for winter and spring bloom, outdoors in warmer areas, and indoors in cooler areas.