Discover the different types of cyclamen, where to plant them and how to care for indoor and hardy outdoor cyclamen in your home and garden.
When autumn arrives and the garden begins to quieten down, cyclamen are one of those little plants that can make an enormous difference. Their flowers bring flashes of pink, white and deep rose to borders, pots and windowsills just when we need a bit of colour!
And there’s much more to cyclamen than the familiar flowering pots you see indoors at this time of year. Some varieties are perfectly happy outside, returning year after year and spreading beneath trees and shrubs, while others make wonderfully pretty houseplants.
Whether you’re looking for something to brighten a windowsill, add colour to a shady corner or create a natural-looking carpet of flowers in the garden, there’s a cyclamen for the job. Here’s our guide to the different types, where to plant them and how to keep them looking lovely.
What makes cyclamen so special?
Cyclamen flowers have an unusual, almost butterfly-like shape, with petals that curl upwards and away from the centre. They come in shades ranging from pure white and soft blush pink to vivid magenta and deep crimson, with some varieties having darker markings around the centre.
The foliage is just as attractive. Many cyclamen have heart-shaped or rounded leaves beautifully marbled and patterned in silver, grey and different shades of green.
They’re also incredibly versatile too. While many of our summer favourites have finished flowering, cyclamen are only getting getting started, bringing colour to the garden from autumn through winter and into early spring, depending on the variety.
Indoor or outdoor cyclamen?
This is worth knowing before you buy.
Not all cyclamen are suitable for growing outside in the UK, and the pretty flowering plants sold as houseplants have rather different requirements from the hardy varieties you’ll find in the garden section.
Indoor cyclamen
The cyclamen most commonly sold as a houseplant is Cyclamen persicum. These are the showy ones we tend to stock at Hildreth’s during autumn and winter, with relatively large flowers in white, pink, red and shades in between. There are also varieties with frilled petals and particularly decorative foliage.
They’re brilliant for adding a splash of colour to a windowsill, hallway, conservatory or other bright spot in the house.
The one thing they don’t particularly enjoy is being too warm.
Despite their winter flowering, indoor cyclamen prefer a cool room and will often last much longer away from radiators, fires and other sources of heat.
A bright windowsill in a cooler room is ideal.
Hardy cyclamen
If you’re looking for cyclamen plants for the garden, you’ll want one of the hardier species.
Two of the best known are Cyclamen hederifolium and Cyclamen coum.
Cyclamen hederifolium is particularly lovely for autumn. Its flowers appear from late summer into autumn, followed by attractive ivy-shaped foliage. It’s excellent for naturalising beneath trees and shrubs and, once established, can gradually form larger groups.
Cyclamen coum comes into its own later, flowering from winter into early spring. Its rounded leaves and pretty flowers are particularly welcome when there isn’t much else happening in the garden.
Both can become long-lived garden plants when they’re given the right conditions.
Where should you plant hardy cyclamen?
Think woodland. Hardy cyclamen naturally suit the sort of conditions you’ll find beneath trees and shrubs, where the soil is well drained, there is some shelter and the plants receive filtered light rather than baking sunshine.
Try planting them:
- Beneath deciduous trees
- Around the base of shrubs
- In a woodland-style border
- Along the edge of a shady path
- In rockeries or raised areas with good drainage
- In containers on a sheltered patio or terrace
Dappled shade is ideal, particularly where the plants receive more light during autumn and winter when deciduous trees have lost their leaves. The most important thing is good drainage. Cyclamen don’t like sitting in cold, wet soil, particularly during the winter months.
If your garden is heavy clay or prone to waterlogging, improve the soil with organic matter and grit, or consider growing them in raised beds or containers.
Can you grow cyclamen in pots?
Definitely – and they can look so beautiful.
Outdoor cyclamen are particularly effective planted with other autumn and winter plants. Their flowers and patterned foliage work well alongside evergreen foliage, grasses and other shade-loving plants. Choose a container with good drainage and use a free-draining compost and avoid leaving pots sitting in saucers of water, especially during wet weather.
Indoor cyclamen are, of course, naturally suited to pots. Just make sure the container has drainage holes and don’t be tempted to put them into an oversized pot.
How to plant cyclamen
Hardy cyclamen grow from a tuber rather than a conventional bulb, and planting depth is important.
Follow the planting instructions for your particular variety, but as a general rule, hardy cyclamen shouldn’t be buried deeply. With Cyclamen hederifolium, for example, the top of the tuber should sit close to the surface of the soil.
Choose a spot where the soil drains freely and avoid disturbing the plants once they’re established.
This is one of those cases where a little patience pays off. Hardy cyclamen can take time to settle in, but once they do, they can return year after year and gradually spread.
How to care for cyclamen
Cyclamen aren’t particularly demanding plants, but there are a few things they don’t like.
Don’t overwater – Overwatering is one of the most common reasons cyclamen struggle, particularly indoors. Their tubers can rot if they’re kept constantly wet, so allow the compost to dry slightly between waterings.
With indoor cyclamen, it’s best to water around the edge of the pot rather than pouring water into the centre of the plant. Alternatively, stand the pot in a little water for a short time and allow it to absorb what it needs, then drain thoroughly.
Keep indoor cyclamen cool – If your indoor cyclamen looks unhappy despite regular watering, check its position. A warm room next to a radiator isn’t ideal. Cyclamen prefer cooler conditions, so a bright windowsill in a cool room is often a much better choice.
Keep them away from strong direct sunlight and sources of heat.
Remove faded flowers and leaves – Keeping cyclamen tidy will encourage them to continue flowering and helps prevent decaying foliage from sitting around the plant. Remove faded flowers and yellowing leaves carefully from the base rather than simply leaving them to rot on the compost.
With indoor cyclamen, you may find that regularly removing spent flowers encourages a surprisingly long flowering period.
What happens when an indoor cyclamen finishes flowering?
This is where people often think they’ve killed their cyclamen! After flowering, the leaves will naturally begin to yellow and die back as the plant enters a dormant period. Don’t immediately throw it away.
Reduce watering as the foliage dies back and allow the plant to rest.
Getting a florist’s cyclamen to flower again can take a little patience, and it’s not always successful indoors, but there’s no harm in giving it a try. Hardy garden cyclamen, meanwhile, have a very different rhythm. Once established in the garden, they can return year after year, often becoming more impressive with time.
Cyclamen for shade
If you’re constantly looking for plants that will brighten up a shady part of the garden, hardy cyclamen are well worth considering.
They look particularly natural beneath trees and shrubs, where their small scale and delicate flowers don’t compete with larger plants.
Rather than planting one here and another there, try planting several together. Over time, they can create the impression that they’ve always been there – particularly if allowed to naturalise.
So, which cyclamen should you choose?
There are plenty of varieties to choose from, but these are the main ones to look out for.
Cyclamen persicum – the classic indoor cyclamen, with colourful flowers and attractive foliage. Best grown as a houseplant in a cool, bright position.
Cyclamen hederifolium – a hardy outdoor variety that flowers in late summer and autumn. Particularly good for naturalising beneath trees and shrubs.
Cyclamen coum – a hardy winter and early spring flowering cyclamen with rounded foliage and pretty flowers. Excellent for shady borders and woodland-style planting.
A little plant that brings a lot of colour
Perhaps the best thing about cyclamen is their timing.
When the garden is beginning to retreat into winter, they carry on flowering. When most of the colour has disappeared from a shady border, their little flowers stand out. And when an indoor room needs a lift, a pot of cyclamen can transform a windowsill in an instant.
Choose the right variety for the right place and they’re surprisingly versatile – from a single pot on the kitchen table to a naturalised drift beneath a tree.
And once you’ve planted a few hardy cyclamen in the garden, don’t be surprised if you find yourself looking forward to seeing them return each year.
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