What are Hardy Cyclamen?
Hardy cyclamen are evergreen perennials that add a touch of elegance and color to the garden during the cooler months. These charming plants are known for their large, heart-shaped leaves and an array of exquisite blooms, ranging from white to pink, purple, and even burgundy. They thrive in well-drained, shady locations and are relatively drought tolerant once established. Their ability to flower in winter and their low-maintenance nature make them a popular choice among gardeners.
Delight in the beauty of cyclamens without worrying about losing them to a harsh winter. Explore a variety of hardy cyclamen varieties designed to withstand the harshest conditions the British winter may impose. With these resilient options, you can enjoy the charm of cyclamens in your garden, ensuring they thrive even in the most challenging weather conditions.
Hardy Cyclamen varieties
Explore a range of varieties worth trying, each promising to introduce both form and colour to your garden throughout every month of the year.
- Alpinum: flowers in early spring. Mid-purple flowers. Sweetly scented.
- Cilicium (sweetly scented): Autumn flowering with Mid-purple or pink flowers
- Coum (very hardy – very popular): Heart-shaped leaves. Flowers from January to March. Pink, white, or purple.
- Hederifolium (very hardy): Flowers from late summer to autumn.
- Intaminatum (nice alpine variety, small flowers): Pale pink or white. Autumn flowering.
- Mirabile (will survive mild frosts): broad, heart-shaped leaves. The flowers are often fragrant. Flowers are white to deep pink.
- Purpurascens (very hardy): Carries variegated leaves and deep pink flowers in summer.
Various Cyclamen varieties exhibit preferences for distinct conditions. Generally, they thrive in partial or deep shade, ideally situated in loose, well-drained soil enriched with abundant organic matter. Robust selections like C. hederifolium or C. purpurascens demonstrate exceptional resilience, tolerating temperatures as low as -10 degrees.
Looking after your cyclamen plants
Caring for cyclamen is a relatively straightforward task. Once they’ve taken root and are thriving under suitable conditions, these resilient plants promise an abundance of colour year after year. One piece of advice is to prevent the plants from becoming excessively dry during warm summers. Applying a generous layer of mulch is an effective strategy to stave off dryness and promote optimal growth. Remarkably, cyclamen display a unique ability to thrive among the roots of a mature tree—a location where few other plants dare to venture.
What is so special about Cyclamens?
If I were to choose just one flowering plant to accompany me on a desert island, it would undoubtedly be the hardy cyclamen. Every aspect of this woodland perennial is distinctive and captivating.
To begin, the flowers, often imbued with a sweet fragrance, unfurl before the leaves make their appearance. These blooms showcase a spectrum of hues, including pink, white, or red, with petals gracefully arching upward like flames.
Secondly, the leaves typically take on a heart-shaped form, adorned with ivy-like patterns that evoke the intricate beauty of mathematical Mandelbrot fractals.
Lastly, as if to add another layer of intrigue, the plant surprises with its seed pods that mature and gracefully corkscrew into springs reminiscent of clockwork mechanisms, eventually burying themselves into the ground.
Cyclamen boldly flourishes in areas that challenge many other plants. Whether nestled under bushes or in a woodland garden beneath the canopy of trees, these resilient flowers thrive. A testament to their adaptability, my mother-in-law has numerous cyclamen varieties flourishing amidst the robust roots of a silver birch tree. Additionally, cyclamen readily self-seed, inviting a delightful abundance of these charming blooms. The more, the merrier!
More information about hardy cyclamen plants from the RHS.
Frequently Asked Questions about Hardy Cyclamen
Which cyclamen is considered a good hardy variety?
Cyclamen repandum is a hardy species. This lovely plant, in its various forms, is fairly widely grown in many gardens. It has been cultivated for at least three centuries, and it is easy to grow. However, it is not as drought-tolerant as some varieties.
How do you know if a cyclamen is hardy or not?
Generally speaking, the larger and more showy the flowers on the cyclamen, the less likely it is to be suitable for outdoor use all year. Both Cyclamen Hederifolium and Cyclamen Coum are excellent hardy varieties to grow.
What do you do with hardy cyclamen after they bloom?
Removing the stems after the flowers have withered will keep them producing more flowers for a longer period of time. After this, allow them to dry out during the spring and store them somewhere dark and cool.
Do cyclamen spread?
Yes. Over the years, new plants will grow from seeds. The spread is quite slow and welcome. Cyclamen will often grow where other plants do not, such as around the roots of trees. Seedlings will produce flowers the following year. So make sure you look after them.
is the intaminatum cyclamen, an alpine variety, the only mini outdoor winter flowering cyclamen or are there others. we are trying to find a cyclamen we saw in a garden
That’s a good question. I am not 100% sure. However, I did find this article which may help you more on this variety of Cyclamen. https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/23564/Cyclamen-intaminatum/Details – The hardiest cyclamens are Cyclamen coum, Cyclamen hederifolium and Cyclamen purpurascens.