Hardy cyclamen
Small tuberous perennials that carpet the ground beneath deciduous trees, with Cyclamen coum flowering in the depths of winter and Cyclamen hederifolium in early autumn. Between them they cover two of the thinnest periods in the garden year, and both are worked by bees on mild days.
Value to bees
- Nectar
- Moderate
- Pollen
- Moderate
- As a honey crop
- Not a honey source
- Which bees, and why
- Worked by bumblebees and honey bees on mild days. The autumn-flowering species overlaps with the ivy bee's very late season, which is a useful pairing in a garden.
The reflexed petals leave the flower mouth open downwards, so bees work upwards into it — sheltered from rain, which matters for a winter flower.
- Worth knowing
- Modest in volume and valuable in timing, covering the two thinnest points in the garden year.
Flowering
- In flower
- December to March (northern hemisphere)
Cyclamen coum flowers from December to March; Cyclamen hederifolium covers September to November. Planting both gives autumn and winter cover.
Growing it
- Conditions
- Part shade in free-draining humus-rich soil beneath deciduous trees and shrubs, dry in summer while dormant.
- Size
- 5-15 cm tall, spreading into carpets.
- Native range
- The eastern Mediterranean, Turkey and the Caucasus for Cyclamen coum; southern Europe and Turkey for Cyclamen hederifolium.
- Suits
- Small gardens, Containers and window boxes, Large gardens
- Plant tubers shallowly, barely covered, and let them seed around into a carpet.
- Perfect for dry shade under trees and shrubs where little else will grow.
- Avoid Cyclamen persicum, the florist's cyclamen, which is not hardy outdoors in cool climates.
What it looks like
Low rosettes of rounded or ivy-shaped leaves, frequently marbled silver, with small nodding flowers whose petals sweep sharply backwards — magenta to white in coum, pink in hederifolium.
Sources
- Bumblebees: Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation — Oxford University Press (2010) · Monograph
- HoneyHQ editorial synthesis — HEKNO Ltd · HoneyHQ synthesis
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.
Guides covering this plant
- Winter forage: plants that flower for bees from November to MarchBees fly on mild winter days and most gardens offer them nothing. Filling the November-to-March gap is the single highest-value planting decision a temperate garden can make, and it takes about six plants.
- A Mediterranean bee gardenThe one climate where the bee-friendly planting and the drought-tolerant planting are the same list. The Mediterranean gap is not winter — it is the dead of summer, and the plants that solve it are mostly herbs.
Tools for planning planting
- Flowering calendar
What should I plant so that something is always in flower for bees?
- Bee-friendly garden planner
What should I plant in the space I actually have?
- Plant recommendation tool
Which plant fills this specific gap?