Reborn cyclamen

Years ago, when I piggybacked on a friend's membership in the American Rock Garden Society, I got to participate in the ARGS's eagerly anticipated annual seed sale during which, for rock-bottom prices, members offered carefully harvested seed from choice plants in their own gardens. I tried lots of exotic species, many of which had remarkably complicated requirements for getting the seed to sprout, and more often than not, I was actually successful. A few of the ARGS offspring continue to thrive in my garden, but one group of plants, the so-called "hardy cyclamens," proved a complete bust. Recently, however, I got my hands on a few viable tubers, and while they too seemed to give up the ghost not long after I planted them, they surprised me a year or so later by raising a crop of beautiful leaves and shooting star flowers in October. This year, as is the pattern, they disappeared in the summer, but, with the drought, I wasn't at all sure they'd ever come back. Oh me of little faith... a bit later than usual, the still-hardy cyclamens are happily photosynthesizing and blooming. All's right with these botanical meteorites!