Plant of the moment: Cyclamen

Cyclamen

At this time of year, garden centre shelves are short on choice. The emphasis is firmly on planting-up pots and tubs and window-boxes for the colder months. Suggestions are more than likely to include "ornamental" cabbages (which are certainly no longer chic since they appeared at Homebase), scrawny heathers and smelly chrysanthemums. Along with winter-flowering pansies and violas, however, far and away the most attractive of the chilly offerings around at the moment is the winter-flowering cyclamen - delicate slipper-shapes in pinks, whites and reds, with attractively spotty heart- shaped leaves. Teeny tiny ones are especially cute. In theory, they should struggle bravely on throughout the winter, although if it gets really cold they will freeze and turn brown and squishy. Kind gardeners could bring them in during the cruellest of frosts.