Dear Helen: A miniature cyclamen that I was given at Christmas is doing well in a cool, bright window. What do I do after the flowering is over? Can it be kept to bloom again?

A: For the longest possible bloom period, keep the plant cool and in bright light. Water enough to keep the soil just moist, not wet, and aim the stream of water around the pot edge, not into the centre of the pot. Remove the stems of faded flowers by pulling.

When a potted cyclamen finishes blooming, it is natural for it to begin dying back. When you notice this, gradually reduce water and remove top growth as it withers. When only the tuber remains, store the pot in a cool place and water occasionally, only enough to keep the tuber from shrivelling.

In the spring, after frost danger is over, set the pot outdoors in a spot sheltered from heavy rain and repot at the first sign of top growth. Use a pot only slightly wider than the current one and position the tuber top at the soil surface. Summer the plant in cool, light shade, with regular watering. As temperatures cool in late summer and early autumn, flower stems will begin to develop. Clean the plant and pot, and bring your cyclamen back indoors to enjoy.

Dear Helen: Have you grown "chocolate" peppers? I'd like to try them. Are seeds available?

A: I've grown only two varieties of brown-skinned peppers - Sweet Chocolate and Chocolate Beauty. Both have a lovely depth of flavour. I'm quite sold on them.

Sweet Chocolate, which ripens from green to chocolate on the outside and brick red on the inside, has thick, sweet flesh. It ripens in my garden 10 days to two weeks earlier than Chocolate Beauty.

The only source I can find that lists both is Seed Savers Exchange (seed savers.org). The Cottage Gardener (cottagegardener .com) lists Sweet Chocolate. West Coast Seeds lists Chocolate Beauty.

A promising-looking variety from a local source is Georgescu Chocolate. The Salt Spring Seeds catalogue describes it as a "dark chocolate, blocky, thickwalled Romanian heirloom. Good for cooler conditions. Green fruits mature through dark salmon-pink to dark chocolate brown. Excellent flavour." I'll be adding this one to my pepper roster this year.

I like growing chocolate peppers with orange ones.

Sweet Chocolate and the new Orange Blaze (Stokes Seeds, Dominion Seed House) were my best peppers last year, under less than ideal conditions. It was not a long or hot summer.

Dear Helen: I am determined this year to rid parts of my lawn of a ground-hugging, clover-like plant with tiny yellow flowers. Do you know what it is and how to control it?

A: Your weed sounds like black medic, a common problem in lawns. I try to keep this weed pulled out of my lawn, before the plants can form seeds. There are new, non-toxic herbicides for spot treatments of such weeds. EcoClear is acetic acid, the same acid as in vinegar. Topgun is a fatty acid herbicide.

GARDEN EVENTS

Cowichan rhododendron meeting. The Cowichan Valley chapter of the Rhododendron Society will meet this evening at 7: 30 in St. John's Anglican Church in Duncan, corner of First and Jubilee, behind the main post office in the old part of Duncan. Bill Terry, author of Blue Heaven: Encounters with the Blue Poppy, will explore the topic, The Perfect Garden: Plant Hunting in Tibet. Included will be interesting Himalayan alpines. All are welcome.

Cowichan.rhodos.ca

Dahlia meeting. The Victoria Dahlia Society will meet Thursday at 7: 30 p.m. in St. Michael and All Angels Church, 4733 West Saanich Rd. Featured will be a slide show titled Why not grow the best: Presenting the winning Fab Fifty dahlias of North America. All are welcome. victoriadahliasociety.org

Nanoose meeting. The Nanoose Garden Club will meet Friday at 1: 15 p.m. at the Nanoose Library Centre on Northwest Bay Road. Guests are welcome. Information at 250-468-9184.

Seedy in Qualicum. Starting off the Seedy Saturday season for 2012 is Qualicum Beach, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3: 30 p.m. at the Q.B. Civic Centre. Admission is by donation. As well as the traditional seed swap, there will be more than 70 vendors, a farmers market and master gardeners on hand to answer questions. Speakers are Gord Hutchings, Linda Gilkeson and Bernie Dinter, with Linda giving a Friday night talk at 7 on Troubleshooting: Get Ready for your 2012 Garden. qbseedysaturday.com

hchesnut@bcsupernet.com