Bisous Cyclamen

Bisous Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum 'Bisous') is a compact florist cyclamen that holds at roughly 20cm tall and 25cm across, with ruffled petals in a mixed colour range. It flowers through the cool months, which is exactly when most pots and courtyards have nothing else going on. Small enough for a windowsill, and it repeats the display every winter once you understand its dormancy.

Why you'll love it

• It flowers when nothing else does. The display runs through autumn and winter, filling the gap between summer colour and spring.
• Ruffled petals in mixed colours. The Bisous series is grown as a mix, so a group planting gives a range of tones rather than one flat block.
• Genuinely compact. At 20cm by 25cm it fits a small pot, a table setting or the front edge of a shaded bed.
• Indoors or out. It works as a house plant in a bright, cool room, and equally well in a sheltered pot outside.

Where it works best

Pots and containers. A 150mm to 200mm pot is plenty. Cyclamen dislike being overpotted, and a snug pot with free draining mix is the best thing you can do for one.

Indoors. Give it the brightest, coolest room you have, away from heaters and direct afternoon sun.

Borders, balconies and courtyards. Along a shaded path edge or clustered on a balcony, plant them about 20cm apart so the leaf mounds touch and the flowers read as one drift.

Growing Bisous Cyclamen in Australia

Position and climate. Partial shade and shelter. This is a cool temperate, warm temperate and Mediterranean plant that takes light frost only, so a hard frosting garden wants it in a pot under eaves. In the humid subtropics and tropics it is a short lived seasonal plant rather than a permanent one.

Soil. Free draining potting mix, with the top of the tuber sitting just proud of the surface. Buried tubers rot, which is the most common way a cyclamen is lost.

Water and feed. Water into the saucer or around the rim, never over the crown, and tip out what is not taken up within half an hour. A half strength liquid fertiliser every three weeks through the flowering season is enough.

Dormancy. As the weather warms the leaves yellow and fall, which is normal rather than a failure. Move the pot somewhere dry and shaded, stop watering, and begin again in late summer when new shoots appear.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is grown as tube stock. Tubes hold a young plant with a small tuber and a few leaves, so expect foliage rather than a pot in full bloom. Potted into a 150mm container and grown on through autumn, it will flower in its first cool season.

Plants travel packed upright and are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Some leaf droop after transit is normal and lifts within a day of a careful water. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to keep your indoor plants alive
• Browse indoor flowering plants
• Plants that suit pots and containers
• Halios Curly Cyclamen, for fringed and twisted petals

Common questions

Which colour will I receive?

Bisous is grown as a mixed series, so the colour is not selected. Ordering several and grouping them gives a deliberate mix rather than a gamble on a single pot.

Is it safe around cats and dogs?

No. The tuber is the toxic part and it is the part pets dig at, so keep the pot off the floor or out of reach in a garden that dogs use.

My cyclamen has gone yellow and floppy. Is it dead?

Usually not. In late spring that is dormancy arriving on schedule. In mid winter the cause is almost always water sitting in the crown, or a room that is too warm.

Will it flower again next year?

Yes, if you let it rest. Keep the tuber dry and shaded through summer, then resume watering in late summer.