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Northern Gardening: Primrose an early spring pleasure

As I look out the window at more snow coming down I am cheered by the thought that I have a pot of primrose seeds in my fridge getting their required cold treatment.
Primrose

As I look out the window at more snow coming down I am cheered by the thought that I have a pot of primrose seeds in my fridge getting their required cold treatment. I am also looking forward to my primroses in the garden putting out their first flower buds by the end of April.

There are several varieties of primroses (Primula) that are fully hardy for us, although they can be difficult to find at garden centres. The primrose often found at grocery stores in early spring, the polyanthus primrose (Primula polyantha), is not very hardy. The hardy primroses you are most likely to find at garden centres are the drumstick primrose (P. denticulata) and possibly the auricula primrose (P. auricula). Both come in a variety of colours and have evergreen leaves. The cowslip primrose (P. veris) I remember from my childhood in Germany is also hardy for us, and it is a red version of this usually yellow primrose that I am starting from seed this year. Other hardy primroses are P. vulgaris and our own little native mealy primrose, P. incana.

If you want to grow primroses and cannot find them in the garden centres you can start them from seed.

Primrose seeds can also be hard to find – you may have to search online. The only source I have been familiar with is Gardens North (www.gardensnorth. com) and this is their last year of operation.

Some primroses are easy to start from seed, requiring only a sterile moist seeding mix. Do not cover the seeds as they need light to germinate.

Others, like my cowslip primrose, require a period of cold. They can be seeded outdoors in fall, or they can be seeded in sterile, moist seeding mix and placed in a plastic bag in the fridge for eight to 12 weeks. Then they can be brought out to a windowsill or sunroom to germinate.

When seedlings are large enough they can be moved first into individual containers to continue growing, and then into the garden. They only require normal garden conditions.

If you find our native little primrose growing near a shoreline they are easy to transplant, and will happily spread by seed and underground stolons. Only take a few to keep the native patch growing.

They require adequate moisture to establish, but will spread into dryer areas.

I don’t understand why they are so difficult to find. Maybe it is because people are always looking for new and exotic plants, and forget that one of the greatest pleasures is finding early spring flowers in your garden.

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