Cyclamen purpurascens should be quite hardy in zone 5 - I have a friend in N Illinois who grows it magnificently and has it seeding around. He doesn't generally have snow cover to speak of. C. hederifolium and coum are worth trying in more sheltered areas or those with reliable snow cover. Grow a lot from seed and try them in various spots in the garden. Cyclamen in any zone are not hardy if eaten by critters - but there are a number of ways of protecting them while they are getting established. We have tons of squirrels here but the cyclamen out-seed them at a fast pace. There are tens of thousands of hederifolium in our woodland now and they are spectacular in flower and, especially, leaf. Best, J. John T Lonsdale PhD 407 Edgewood Drive, Exton, Pennsylvania 19341, USA Home: 610 594 9232 Cell: 484 678 9856 Fax: 315 571 9232 Visit "Edgewood" - The Lonsdale Garden at http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/ USDA Zone 6b > I'm in zone 5, probably 5b going on 6, and Cyclamen are tricky here. > > The squirrels, ate C. coum as fast as I could plant them. C. purpureum > never came up after planting, so I suspect squirrels in their case as > well. C. hederifolium lasted several years in one spot, disappeared > without a trace in several other spots. All are long gone now. > > So Cyclamen seem to be marginal at best here in the Midwest. >