Bloom-sized tubers are generally from a bit over a dime to a nickel in size. They will look like a thumb-print cookie before baking. The rounded, somewhat flat, tuber looks as though someone pressed downward with a thumb. Roots come from the top of the tuber, running just below the surface of the soil.
Tubers break dormancy about early September for me, and last well into the first part of November. Flowers begin to emerge first, one bloom to an arched, bare, fleshy stem and more stems accumulating each day. They resemble shooting stars with their reflected petals and noses sticking out. One bloom to an arched, fleshy, stem and more stems accumulating each day. Usually there is a dark stain at the base of each petal where it arches back from the protruding nose. Colors can range from deep pink to pure white about five or six inches above the foliage. The older the tuber, the more blooms each season. Tubers can become quite large and are very long-lived under ideal circumstances, so quite a show can accumulate over time.
Foliage is highly variable and there are many named cultivars available based upon the variable leaves. In general, the leaves begin to emerge after the flowers are filling out. In general, Cyclamen hederifolium leaves resemble a holly leaf in outline and give this species its name. Hedera is Latin for the holly family. The basal part of the leaf petiole creeps outward from the tuber underground, radiating in a general circle. As it unfolds the leaf, in general, is pale to dark green with whitish patterns. Often the center will have what resembling a outline of a Christmas tree in deep, glossy, green. The foliage is almost as attractive as the blooms, lasting all through winter and well into late spring before going dormant once more.
When transplanting the tubers should be just below the soil line and only mulched very lightly. To prevent rot from winter wet, I have my tubers among the root systems of shrubs and evergreens. I also use locations where the tubers will rest over an old root from a dead tree, or on an embankment where rain quickly runs off. I find cyclamen grow best where other plants struggle and that alone makes them valuable in the garden.
I am especially fond of Corydalis ochroleuca, the yellow-white corydalis, as a companion. The foliage is blue-green, lacy and is almost evergreen. Blooms are dainty, dusty-white with a yellow lip, and bloom from mid-March through November. It is most happy in rocky, well-drained soil. Almost any small conifer or evergreen works well too. My favorite is Paxistima, or Cliff-Green which looks like an informal boxwood, providing a perfect background for both foliage and flower on the cyclamen.