Winter is the time of year when we think about cyclamen — those glowing elegant potfuls in supermarkets, the neater reds and whites in people’s window boxes, the tiny pinks and whites emerging from snowmelt in the garden.
However, which cyclamen is which, and what’s the best thing to do with them? Discounting the more obscure species, there are four main kinds.
The big cyclamen you buy now as houseplants are giant forms of Cyclamen persicum and are not hardy, although a cool room suits them far better than a hot living room. Indoors, in the gloomy British winter, we have to be extra careful to water only lightly, putting the water into the saucer below, rather than on to the compost, if we are
