Totally agree about the foliage- I usually buy a few cyclamen in Salisbury Market before Christmas, the little ones not the big blowsy sort, and I choose the ones with the most beautiful leaves, never mind the flower colour. They flower for weeks on a cool windowsill and then, as you say, you get weeks more of lovely leaves. When they get a bit straggly I plant them out and sometimes they survive and flower again in subsequent Springs, but I think some of the commercial ones are less hardy than the native pink ones. We have a lot of native ones in a neglected area under a tree and they carpet the ground with flowers from Autumn onwards for many weeks. Some of the corms get to saucer size - they don’t like disturbance but occasionally I do have to put a fork into the area and then I move some of them on. They really like our chalky garden and just seem to hibernate when it’s really hot and dry, like it is now.
Interesting that you got yours to flower again within a year. Can you send a picture, I’d like to see it. Maybe I should be more patient and save mine indoors or in the greenhouse and then they might come better later on.
