DESCRIPTION: This group consists of 15 tender and hardy, deciduous, tuberous-rooted perennials belonging to the Primrose family, Primulaceae. Cyclamens grow wild from Greece to Syria. They grow from 8 to 12 inches high and have beautiful, dark green, heart-shaped leaves mottled with silver. Their butterfly-like, single or double flowers rise above the foliage and may be white, red, purple, pink, rose, salmon, or bicolored. Cyclamens are suitable for growing in flowerbeds, borders, or as houseplants. The florists Cyclamens being sold at garden centers are tender hybrids of C. persicum. Florists Cyclamens are popular houseplants, but can be grown outdoors year-round in climates where temperatures do not fall below 20º F (Zones 9-11). Florists Cyclamens are usually sold as potted plants. When buying one, make sure there are plenty of flower buds. Hardy Cyclamens are the Mediterranean relatives of C. persicum and can be grown outdoors year-round where winter temps. reach a low of 10º F (Zone 7), but will survive temperatures down to minus 20º F if covered by snow. C. coum is one of the hardiest Cyclamens; it produces white to pink or crimson flowers. C. hederifolium is another hardy Cyclamen and it produces pink or white flowers with dark eyes in late summer or fall.
POTTING: Cyclamens should be grown in a cool, humid atmosphere in very well drained, but moist, organic soil (such as a mixture of two-thirds loam and one-third leaf mold, with a generous addition of sand). If your soil is very heavy, add gravel and lots of humus to lighten it or make a raised bed with stones mixed in the soil. Place them in a location receiving indirect light, shade, or partial shade. Under shrubs and around trees are good places with light shade. Set the tubers 1/2-inch deep and 6 to 8 inches apart in the soil. They should be watered regularly, but not too much while they are actively growing and blooming. When Cyclamens are to grow as houseplants, they should be kept in a cool room from 60º to 65º F during the day and 40º to 50º F at night. They must not be overwatered. Cyclamens should be repotted during dormancy. Set their tuber just at the surface of the soil and keep the soil barely moist until growth resumes.
PROPAGATION: Seeds should be sown in late summer, in pans of leaf mold, sifted loam and sand and placed in a shady frame or a cool greenhouse. Since they don't germinate at the same time, it is necessary to sow them thinly, so the first seedlings can be transplanted when they're large enough to be handled. They should bloom about 15 months after they're first sown. Keep the plants in a cool (55º F) spot with filtered light. About a month before they're to flower, increase the temperature to 65º F.
SPECIES: Hardy - C. coum; C. hederifolium (Both species are hardy to zone 7, but will survive temps. down to - 20º F if covered by snow.) C. repandum; C. graecum; C. cilicium; C. mirabile; C. intaminatum; C. libanoticum; C. pseudibericum; C. purpurascens.
Tender - C. persicum.