Lilac explosion with its roots in lipstick red
Primulas come in all shapes, sizes and colours, so sometimes they can be confusing to identify.
Probably the easiest to name is the dainty but incredibly tough little primrose, Primula vulgaris, which is surely one of the highlights of the spring garden.
It’s also quite at home in the countryside where its pale yellow flowers appear in early spring to provide valuable nectar to any bees optimistic to think that winter is over. It’s a flower for moist but well-drained soil in sun or partial shade.
Meanwhile, Primula veris, the common cowslip, is also making its mark. The tubular, butter-yellow flowers appear between March and June. They are ideal for naturalising in a meadow or a grassy area below a tree but do allow the plants to set seed before mowing the area.
Primula vialii is something altogether different – an explosion of, tufted lilac flowers opening from lipstick red buds. If you have a bog garden, it should be more than happy to take up residence and flower throughout summer.
And then there is Primula denticulata, a lovely little herbaceous perennial. It likes a well-drained but moist soil, preferably with some old leaf mould added, and although it loves the sun, it will grow just as well in partial shade. The lovely drumstick blooms appear in late spring.
It’s a plant which self-seeds freely, so once you plant one, you could have lots of little Primula denticulata popping up.
If you aren’t prepared to let the plants themselves do the hard work, sow ripened seed from June onwards on a surface of seed compost, and keep it in a shaded coldframe or cool glasshouse. Alternatively, sow the seed in January or February, and keep them in a shade tunnel open to the climate. They should flower the following spring.
For instant success, take root cuttings in winter, pot them up in a peat or peatsubstitute cuttings compost and keep them in a cool, shady place to root.