The European cyclamen is one of two cyclamen species that aren't summer-dormant. The leaves grow in summer, last through the winter, and wither the next summer when another flush of leaves replace them. The flowers are fragrant, with a fragrance similar to Sweet Violet (Viola odorata), more pleasant than the soapy scent of florist's cyclamens. Outdoors, they bloom from June until November, when the freezing temperatures stop them. Not a huge number of flowers at once, but several flowers on each plant for many months. Light magenta with a darker nose is the most frequent color, but white, pink, and deep magenta also occur.

I grew my plants from seed ordered from Jan Bravenboer in the Netherlands, and I have many different leaf patterns, from all-green to green-and-silver to all-silver. Silver leaves are the rarest, and I hope to grow more plants with silver leaves, or leaves with larger patches of silver. The leaves form a mound above the tuber, and if you plant one tuber every 8 inches, they cover the ground.

The European cyclamen is the hardiest in continental climates. In England, the ivy-leaved cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium) is hardier and the European cyclamen doesn't grow as well, but that might be because the European cyclamen comes from the Alps and prefers continental climates: warm summers and cold winters.

European cyclamen is the only cyclamen that I can grow outdoors in the winter. Here in Minneapolis, Minnesota the average daily high temperature from December to February is below freezing, and the average yearly coldest temperature is -20 degrees Fahrenheit. European cyclamens are evergreen, so the leaves are frozen all winter and can look dried out at the end of the winter because the roots can't supply them with water while the soil is frozen, but as soon as the soil thaws they fill out again. See my picture of the leaves in early spring after the soil thawed. In a climate like mine, it's best to grow them in partial shade, because winter sun dries out the leaves, and summer dryness makes the leaves wilt.

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In the wild, European cyclamens often grow in beech woods (or so I hear). Beeches often keep some dried leaves on their branches over the winter and drop them in spring (a pattern called marcescence). European cyclamens are well adapted to this pattern: they grow new leaves in summer, after the beech leaves fall, and thus the new cyclamen leaves will be able to grow on top of the fallen beech leaves, rather than being covered by them. The cyclamens might have a harder time growing under other deciduous trees that lose their leaves in the fall, since the fallen leaves would cover the cyclamen leaves and prevent them from photosynthesizing in the spring, and thereby retard their growth and blooming.

Anyway, that's my theory. Related to this, the ideal time to mulch (or transplant) European cyclamens is in late spring or early summer, immediately before they grow new leaves and bloom. That way, the new leaves that grow in summer will be able to grow on top of the mulch (or the leaves inevitably messed up from transplanting can be replaced by a new and orderly set of leaves).

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