Cyclamen for Woods and Shade
Cyclamen are happy in dappled shade and grow well under trees. If you want to imitate suitable conditions use un-composted bark chippings as in the photograph.
Ivy-leaved Cyclamen or Cyclamen hederifolium also formerly called Cyclamen neapolitanum have numerous scented, white or light pink flowers in autumn that show before the leaves grow.
This species readily naturalizes and seeds prolifically.
Like other cyclamen, it resents being transplanted and corms can grow up to a foot in diameter.
Roots emerge from the upper surface and sides of the tuber and not from the lower surface.
Cyclamen like a light soil and good drainage protects the corms from rotting.
Round-leaved Cyclamen Coum flower during the early spring from January to the middle of March. They prefer some protection from bad weather.
They make interesting alpine pot plants.
‘Cyclamen: A Guide for Gardeners, Horticulturists and Botanists’ by C. Grey-Wilson is available from Amazon