How to plant Cyclamen tubers / bulbs for autumn garden flowers in shade areas. Cyclamen hederifolium

I decided to make a video about how to plant Cyclamen tubers, sometimes called cyclamen bulbs, in order to get a beautiful display of autumn-blooming flowers in my garden, and in particular in the shady areas of my garden, because cyclamens love shade. I decided to plant Cyclamen hederifolium because it is one of the best plants for shade, and this for several reasons:
1) even if it is deciduous, this species is actually dormant in summer (when most other plants are in full bloom or at least covered in leaves), while it is actively growing between autumn and spring, so it is in the green when many plants, such as most of the summer blooming bulbs and perennials, are actually dormant, often wiithout any leaves or any aerial parts at all
2) the leaves have a beautiful heart shape, and are beautifully variegated in different shades of green and silver, rivalling with some of the most beautiful foliage plants
3) it blooms in late summer and autumn, when not many other flowers are in bloom, and produces gorgeous flowers, in various colours from white to almost red, with most plants producing bright pink flowers, very showy against the green and variegated foliage, providing a great contrast between the blooms and the surrounding greenery
4) it is one of the hardiest cyclamens, growing outdoors in USDA zones 5 to 9, therefore fully hardy throughout the UK as well as in many temperate and cold climate areas.
Usually Cyclamen bulbs are for sale in late summer-autumn, and need to be planted about 5 cm deep, in well drained soil and in partial shade to full shade; however I found for sale some tubers this spring, and considering the very nice size of these tubers, I decided to give it a go and add some more cyclamens to my garden: as the cyclamens don't need to be planted very deeply, they are easily added to an already established garden, like mine, finding areas with empty patches, and dig very shallowly an area where to comfortably put the tuber, adding some additional compost on top of the cyclamen tuber. A peculiarity of Cyclamen hederifolium is that not only the leaves, but also the roots originate from the top of the tuber, while the bottom of the tuber is generally smooth, so don't get confused thinking that if you find dry roots, that must be the lower side, because leaves and flowers originate on the same side of the roots, so if you put facing down the area where roots originate, you are going to bury both the flowers and the leaves, as these will have many difficulties trying to reach the surface of the ground. So remember to plant the Cyclamen hederifolium tubers with the leaves and flowers and root remnants facing upwards. Add about 5 cm of a well drained compost on top of the cyclamen tuber, and you will be rewarded with a wonderful display of flowers in late summer-autumn and beautiful variegated leaves from autumn to spring.
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