Be happy to go down the primrose path
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 out and about throughout 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 likes 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 perfect for a grassy area below a tree but 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. It, too, likes partial shade and deep, humusrich, moist soil – preferably neutral to acid, or peaty. If you have a bog garden, it should be more than happy to take up residence and flower throughout summer.
This is a brilliant choice for creating swathes of vivid colour in a bog garden.
And then there is Primula denticulata, a lovely little herbaceous perennial which is at home just about anywhere in the garden. It likes a well-drained but moist soil, preferably with some old leafmould added, and although it loves the sun, it will grow just as well in partial shade. The lovely drumstick blooms appear in late spring.
And for something just a little bit different there’s Primula ‘Belarina Buttercup Yellow’, a stunning early-spring flower, extremely hardy and, like most of its family, very easy to grow.
This beautiful perennial produces masses of delicate yellow blooms guaranteed to brighten up beds and borders. Give it a sunny spot and a welldrained soil and it should flourish.