New Trends in Cyclamen and Amaryllis Varieties

When it comes to holiday plants, breeders have been working to bring improvements in colors, uniformity, cycle time, and heat tolerance, making these crops easier for growers and more fun for consumers. Here’s a look at what’s new in cyclamen and amaryllis.

Changes Abound for Cyclamen

Cyclamen breeders have been working for years to improve the cyclamen line, and the newer series are not the same old plant. “At Syngenta Flowers, cyclamen has been our focus for the winter holiday sales but also taking that into late winter and early spring for Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day. There’s a lot of holidays that cyclamen could apply to,” says Alicain Carlson, Ph.D., Head of Marketing – Americas at Syngenta Flowers.

We asked if a grower would be shocked if they started growing them again now. Are they different from what they used to be?

“Yes!” Carlson says. “The improved flower quality, timing, and the ease of controlling diseases, genetics, and chemistries have improved. Someone who hasn’t tried them in a long time would be pleasantly surprised with the newer genetics that have come out, and the same with growers who’ve been growing the old varieties for a long time. Try a new variety that has a better package bred into it. You’ll find savings in labor, time, and improved quality.”

Better Heat Tolerance

A little too much heat can cause a real delay in cyclamen flower timing, or no flowering at all. Just two weeks of warm nighttime temperatures can spell trouble. High temperatures during cyclamen production can increase cycle time, impact leaf size and count, and slow flower formation. Heat can be a real issue for growers in regions with higher temperatures since this long-lead-time crop gets started in the warmer months.

New cyclamen varieties are being selected for heat tolerance to reduce the likelihood of flowering delays and enable growers to hit deadlines with less stress. “One of the newest genetics is ‘Leopardo’. This large flowering series offers extremely large blooms on strong, sturdy stems. It grows with little to no heat delay, even during the heat of the summer,” says Kathy McKay, Area Manager for Schoneveld Breeding.

“We’ve been focusing our breeding on screening for more heat tolerance. Similar to poinsettias, cyclamen have a long crop time, and you generally start them in the heat of the summer for winter sales. We’ve been doing a lot of screening of our current genetics to make it more grower friendly, so the heat doesn’t delay flowering, and growers can hit those retail deadlines,” Carlson says.

Breeding Cyclamen for Outdoors

If you’ve been to a theme park lately, you might notice cyclamen isn’t just an indoor houseplant anymore. The trend to use cyclamen in the landscape (in temperate areas) has been growing, and breeders took notice.

“I believe cyclamen outdoor use needs to be explored more in our country,” says Joan Mazat, Business Manager Poinsettias & Cut Flowers and Container Solutions Team Lead at Ball Seed.

Morel Diffusion SAS is well-known for cyclamen, and they have new offerings for the coming year. “We have been developing a new range of botanical cyclamen since last year that were featured at IPM 2025. These species respond well to outdoor uses like window boxes, beds, and gardens. The OUTstanding Cyclamen label identifies top-performing, outdoor varieties that are rigorously tested under extreme Mediterranean conditions at our trials in Fréjus, France,” says Héloïse Morel, Research and Communication Projects for Morel Diffusion SAS. “These cyclamen thrive in an outdoor setting with minimal maintenance.”

New Colors (Including Blue) Aimed At Other Holidays

Unique colors are always in demand and bring the Wow! factor for consumers. “When I started, we had red, pink, white, and purple. Now it’s these fantastical colors,” says Mazat. The new colors work well for targeting other holidays, too. “We’re working on expanding novelty colors as well, and more of the Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day spring-type colors,” Carlson says.

While I’m still waiting for a blue dahlia, it seems that for cyclamen, the wait is over. The first F1 Cyclamen persicum with blue flowers has arrived. “Our Dragon series is the first blue cyclamen in the world,” McKay tells us. It’s available in two shades of blue and should command a higher price point in garden centers.

Larger Flowers on Smaller Plants

The trend across many plant categories is smaller but with more color, and that holds true for cyclamen as well. “I think you’re looking at large flowers but in smaller pot sizes. And I would say larger flowers and on smaller plants,” Mazat says.

Morel explains that the mini-size cyclamen appeared in the 70s and have been gaining popularity ever since, following the trend of smaller apartments and homes with less space. She adds that minis are great for the grower, too, with a higher density of plants on the bench and a shorter culture time.

“We have a new miniseries, Macaron (seven colors, two mixes), characterized by its compactness, lots of little leaves, many small flowers, and synchronized in blooming and earliness.”

Syngenta Flowers is also bringing new mid and compact sizes to market. “Our new Eco series launched last year features large flowers and an intermediate habit designed for a 6-inch pot size. We launched our SeeWhy series with small flowers and compact habit, using cyclamen in red and white combos and mixing them with other species like growers do with poinsettias,” says Carlson.

Better Uniformity and Faster Bench Turns

Uniformity is important, especially when creating combinations. Aligning flowering times with different colors makes it easier on growers — reducing complexity (no need to start one color earlier than the rest) especially when creating combos. “Making sure colors time together in a series to get bench runs on everything is important. We’re working on tightening up flowering time, which we’re pretty good with already, but there’s always room for improvement,” Carlson says.

“I think no matter what people are growing, whether it be cyclamen, a poinsettia, or another crop, we are definitely seeing advancements in breeding for uniformity. The growers need crops to come in all at once, planting at one time and finishing at one time. Uniformity is the goal. If it’s in a series, you should not see variances. That’s the ticket to play at this point. If the breeders don’t pull things together to be friendly for the growers, it won’t work,” says Mazat.

Shorter crop time means less time on the bench and cost savings, and cyclamen breeders have been chopping a significant amount of time off.

“Any large-flower cyclamen is a long crop. Many take more than 18 weeks to flower after transplant. ‘Mammoth NextGen’ and ‘Leopardo’ are two examples with improved genetics for shorter crop times that may now range from 14 to 16 weeks,” McKay says.

Longer Shelf Life

Plants that stay marketable are easier on growers and retailers, and consumers love that value when they take it home. Who wants a plant that quits flowering in a few days? Breeders have been improving the already long shelf life of cyclamen to amazing lengths.

“If you go to the grocery store and buy a plant that flowers in your home for 100 days, that’s value,” Mazat says.

“This year’s flagship innovation, the double-flower ‘Petit Moulin’, perfectly illustrates the changes in our selection: a long-lasting hybrid that’s easy to grow and maintain, offering spectacular flowering for over 100 days with minimum care,” Morel says.

Amaryllis Improvements

It’s hard to imagine the always spectacular amaryllis could get any better, but that’s precisely what the folks at Bloomaker and Ednie Flower Bulbs are doing. And they’re not just for Christmas anymore.

Waxed Amaryllis Bulbs

The appeal of no-fuss plant care provided by waxed amaryllis bulbs continues to grow.

“A significant development in recent years is the increasing demand for varieties suitable for waxing,” says Laura Paternostre, Digital Media, Marketing and Branding Manager at Bloomaker. “This innovation has been a game changer for the amaryllis industry, as waxed bulbs have become incredibly popular.”

Waxed amaryllis bulbs don’t require water, fertilizer, or even soil to bloom, making them ideal for low-experience customers. “Consumers are increasingly seeking convenience, and the popularity of waxed amaryllis bulbs, which require no watering, reflects this trend. The focus has shifted, and larger bulb sizes are now more in demand because they perform better, while smaller bulbs have become less popular,” Paternostre says.

More Flower Power and Uniformity

Decoratively waxed bulbs aren’t the only thing new in the amaryllis world. “There are a lot of new varieties coming out, especially in the double series,” says Jeffrey den Breejen, President at Ednie Flower Bulbs. “The breeders are looking at flower size, number of flowers, and height, but they’re also looking for improved varieties that flower sooner, with more flowers per bulb, more disease resistance, and also how it propagates in the field.”

Like with cyclamen, uniformity and ease of care for growers is a driving force in breeding efforts. “One example of an improvement in the last few years is ‘White Candle’. In many ways, this has replaced ‘Denver’, which always needed a separate treatment temperature. And even with that, it would come on later than many of the other varieties. ‘White Candle’ can be treated and produced with all the other varieties, and it blooms quicker with a lot more flowers than ‘Denver’,” says den Breejen.

Creating holiday decor with curated planters containing bulbs, wood, moss, and even candles makes a gift package with no consumer input required. Combining that with new waxed bulb designs, colors, printing, and colorful add-ons is creating an expanding market for amaryllis.