If you looked in any old gardening book the idea of using cyclamen for autumn colour would be frowned on. However things have moved on and we now have cyclamen that make perfect autumn bedding. They look like house plant cyclamen thats because they are. Modern hybrid breeding has given us a stronger plant with tough flowers that is happy outside, they will flower through the autumn until the first severe frost.
They are not hardy, true hardy autumn cyclamen are usually Cyclamen hederifolium or coum
Hardy cyclamen look different, they have fewer leaves and the flower stems are shorter.
Size matters with Autumn cyclamen, large plants with big flowers are really only suitable for the house, you need to use medium or small-flowered cyclamen, they can take whatever the weather throws at them.
The one on the left is in a 13cm pot and is a house plant, the middle plant in a 11cm and the 9cm plant on the right are okay for autumn planting.
When choosing cyclamen look for a nice even shape, no damaged or yellow leaves or why not watch our video to avoid expensive mistakes.
Cyclamen need looking after perhaps the most important job is removing dead heads
How to dead head and look after your cyclamen
attractive flowers in a wide range of colours, relatively inexpensive to buy, they will flower throughout the autumn
Not hardy (although often sold as hardy) Grown on the nursery in cool bright greenhouses, they don’t like warm dark stores and can deteriorate quickly. avoid stretched or yellow-leaved plants
