Bulbs

Cyclamen
cyclamen

- Height 3-6 in (7.5-15 cm)
- Planting distance 6 in (15 cm)
- Flower midsummer to midspring
- Well-drained, humus-rich soil
- Shaded, sheltered site
- Corms available midsummer for fall flowering and fall for winter and spring flowering
- Hardy zones 5-9

The pretty pink or white flowers of cyclamen present a charming sight in a shaded area of a rock garden, beneath a tree, or around the base of a shrub - it is one of the few bulbous plants to flourish under conifers. Closely related to the florist's cyclamen, several species are hardy enough to be grown outdoors throughout most of the United States, in well-drained but moisture-retentive soil. As natural woodland plants, they prefer a soil rich in leaf mold or well-decayed garden compost and need a site shaded from hot summer sun and protected from cold winds. Although sometimes slow to establish themselves, cyclamens may colonize to form carpets of color from midsummer through to midspring.

Popular species and cultivars
Cyclamen cilicium, 4 in (10 cm) high and hardy in most winters, produces its honey-scented flowers in early fall and midfall, usually before the silver-speckled leaves have appeared. Flower color varies from near-white to a deep rose-pink.
Cyclamen coum has purplish-pink, rose-pink, or more rarely, pure white flowers ('Album'), usually appearing in midwinter.' The 'Pewter' selection ranges from pale to deep pink. In the southern part of their range, they may just come out in time for Christmas.
The plants are only 3 in (7.5 cm) high, with round green leaves marbled with silver. this species does best under trees and self-seeds freely. Cyclamen europaeum (syn. C. purpurascens) has strongly scented rose-pink to purple flowers standing 4 in (10 cm) high. These begin to appear in mid- and late summer and continue in succession until Christmas. The rounded to kidney-shaped green leaves have faint silver markings. This is one of the hardiest cyclamens. Cyclamen hederifolium (syn. C. neapolitanum) has delicate pink or white flowers on stalks 4 in (10 cm) high. The blooms open in early fall and midfall.
The deep green leaves are variegated with silver and form an attractive carpet through the winter (in the South) and spring months, until they die down in late spring. Plant in a rock garden or beneath shrubs, where the soil is rarely disturbed. The cultivar 'Album' is pure white, sometimes with a hint of pink around the mouth. Cyclamen libanoticum grows in mild regions only, producing its scented pale pink flowers in early spring. The ivy-shaped, toothed leaves are dark green and white-marbled above, red on the undersides. The plant grows to 6 in (15 cm) tall.

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