Primulas – how to grow and use them

Primulas are such an every day kind of plant. So much so that it’s all too easy to overlook them. But as I look out in my garden, they’re the one plant delivering on every front. They’re brightening my shady bed, adding interest to a sunnier border, creating a little woodland efect at the base of trees and jazzing up my pots. Added to this, in the right conditions they’re dead easy to grow. So I thought they merited a blog devoted to them as one of my top plants.

Different Types of Primulas

There are oodles of different primulas to choose from, in every colour under the sun. This is not least due to the breeding efforts of plant growers. These have resulted in an incredible array of polyanthus (a cross between a cowslip and the common primrose) which fill our garden centres. I’m always tempted to try one new one in my pots each year – but more of that later.

Even if you ignore these colourful hybrids, there are plenty of more classic plants in the primula family.

Primula Vulgaris

The primula we all know is the primrose.  Primroses flower from March through to May. Along with the daffodils, hellebores, crocuses and snowdrops, they’re a really early performer in my garden. When I wander outside, it absolutely gladdens the heart to see them in all their buttery-yellow loveliness.

Primroses like a bit of shade but they also like a west-facing site. No wonder they’re absolutely thriving in my west facing, semi-shaded woodland style bed. I wish I could say I’d planned it that way but to be honest that’s an absolute stroke of luck on my part; I knew they liked a bit of shade but had no idea about the west-facing bit!

Primroses – From Pot to Border

Every year I buy some primroses to inject colour into pots on my patio, I keep them in semi shade and very well watered. Then, once they’ve done their stuff I lift them out of the pots and plant them into this shady bed, where they absolutely flourish. As a result, over the past four years, I’ve accumulated a show-stopping number of primroses which look gorgeous. Having said they favour a west-facing spot, to be honest, as long as you’ve got reasonably rich soil and offer them a bit of shade I think they will do fine almost anywhere.

Some of these clumps are now growing large and therefore look a bit unnatural. So once their flowering is over I’m going to simply divided them up and spread them around a bit. This should be reasonably easy to do as my alliums and hostas in the border will all be up by then. So there will be no risk of me stepping on one when I relocate the primroses – well that’s the theory!

Primula Veris

Another primula staple of gardens and the countrywide is the cowslip, Primula veris. Cowslips like a more free-draining situation. So I’m creating a colony of them at the base of my ash tree. I only started planting them there last year when someone in my village kindly offered me a few seedlings. Well they’re already looking magical. Cowslips will apparently colonise an area quite easily. This is wonderful news as I think they look quite exotic, like a wild orchid; if you had never seen one before and someone told you it was a really precious, rare plant, I think you’d believe them.

They certainly seem to like a free draining situation. I’m now seeing them pop up in the gravel between the cracks in my patio.

I’ve going to leave them there as I think they look wonderful and will do the job nicely until my erigeron gets going on the patio.

Candelabra Primulas

Candelabra primrulas like a boggy setting, so next to a stream perhaps, or in a boggier flower bed. These flower from May thorugh to July. So they pick up the flowering baton very nicely once the other varieties have done their stuff. They look extremely handsome due to their height, (they grow up to 50cm tall), come in all sorts of colours and look really effective grown in drifts.

Candelabra primulas are deciduous, so they die back in the Winter, but they do return year after year. So don’t be despondent if they vanish from view. They’ll be back to cheer you up in the Spring and often right through to early Summer.

Primula Vialii

If your after something a bit more unusual, there’s a primula called the ‘Himalayan cowslip’ which can reach over one metre tall! I’d love to grow it but sadly, it like bogs, so won’t work in my garden. There is also Primula vialii which looks exotic, like a mini red hot poker. It grows to up to 40cm tall. Again it is deciduous and likes damp conditions, but also (I recently discovered) acid soil. No wonder I managed to kill one of these off when I put it in a pot, on my baking hot patio, in standard peat-free neutral compost – and to add insult to injury forgot to water it! What an idiot!

Primula Denticulata

Another deciduous variety with an interesting shape is Primula denticulata. It has a lovely drumstick shaped head which is tightly packed with tiny bell shaped flowers.

You get them in pinks, lilacs, white and red and they grow about 30cm tall. Though some can get to 50cm. They flower for about 12 weeks – from Spring to Summer, so are tremendous value. Added to this they are really versatile. You can grow them in full sun in cool areas, semi-shade, near bogs, next to water and so on. However, if you grow them in sun you must ensure they remain cool and moist. I’d probably mulch them to help keep the moisture in and their roots cool, as to be honest I think they’re probably happiest in semi-shade.

Another bonus of this variety is that, according to the experts, bees love them. Actually, bees seem to love all my primulas. If you’re looking for other ways to make your garden bee friendly, check out – creating a bee-friendly garden.

Primula Oak Leaf Yellow Picotee

This is a new primula for me, and I absolutely love it. As the name suggests it has unusual shaped leaves. These are accompanied by cheery orange yellow flowers with red edges. The flowers stand on sturdy stems with the whole plant reaching over a foot tall. So it’s a really eye-catching addition in a cool, partially shaded spot. In the picture below you will see that some of its flowers are missing. That’s because I had this plant at the front of my house in the shade, but sadly my colony of sparrows which roosts at the front spotted it and stripped it of all its flowers! So I’ve moved it to the shadier back side of my otherwise sunny border, where it’s thankfully unnoticed by the birds, giving it a chance to flower again.

Polyanthus

Polyanthus are a cross between a cowslip and the common primrose, as a result they have the elegant long stems of one and the flower shape of the other.

They are a large and varied group of primula and come in a dazzling aray of colours. For my garden style many of these colours are a bit over the top, but there’s no denying their loveliness.

One in this group which I think is particularly attractive is the Polyanthus Gold-Laced variety. Sorry I don’t have a photo of it but you can see it here. It flowers from March to April, so not the longest season, but oh the glamour. It has black, velvet-like flowers, a straight stem and gold-edged petals. The combination is lovely, almost formal, and although it looks sophisticated it’s as easy to grow as all the other brightly coloured polyanthus. Aparently it dates back to the 1780s!

Primula Sieboldii

If you want something less common which flowers from as early as late March right through to June then this variety is for you. Again there’s some history attached to them as originally they were introduced from Japan – where today they have a cult status – by Doctor Von Siebold in the 1800’s. (I love knowing daft facts like this!)

It’s easy to see why they’re so loved in Japan. They are much daintier than many primulas. As an added attraction many have lovely frilly edges to their flowers. Colour-wise, they come in every colour of pink imaginable plus soft lilacs, purples, pinkish blues and white.

In their natural conditions they grow in the grassy meadows by the side of rivers in North Eastern Asia. So I’m not sure they’d flourish in my garden, but I’m keen to give them a go as they’re so incredibly pretty. Apparently they often become dormant during the Summer months, especially if they get dry, but they are not at all fussy about the soil they are in, which is a plus, and they will tolerate light shade.

Primulas in Combinations

So far I’ve talked about primulas on their own, but obviously they are a brilliant plant in combinations with other plants. They look lovely planted in the garden with Spring bulbs. I’ve also seen the candelabra primulas looking really effective with eurphorbias.

You can also combine them with other plants in pots. For instance, I always get a few primroses and pop them in containers with other things. They jazz up my patio during early Spring and build my primrose collection. Once they’ve finished flowering I then plant them out in my semi-shaded, woodland style bed. Sadly a lot of people don’t do this. Instead they chuck them away, thinking they’re dead. They aren’t, like Gloria Gaynor, they will survive, so do keep them and stick them in a shaded border!

A Miss!

Having said all this, I’ve had a bit of a pot disaster this year. I planted some old-fashioned primroses in containers underplanted with tulips…this really hasn’t worked. They looked lovely to start with but then the sparrows found them (they really have been my primula nemesis this year!) Secondly, as I didn’t want my tulip bulbs to be soaking wet and rot, I didn’t keep the primroses as wet as they would have liked. So all in all, they’ve looked rather sad as you can see!

So, once the tulips have finished flowering, I’ll move them to my raised bed at the bottom of the garden. I’ll then rescue the poor old primroses and stick them in the semi-shaded border where all their mates are flourishing. Hopefully they’ll regain their mojo.

Primulas in Pots – The Hit

I’ve had much more success with another primula in a pot – a variety called Primlet Peach Shades. This likes a sunny or partially shaded spot and flowers from later Winter through Spring. I’ve paired it with a lavender which I grew from a cutting and a pink ranunculus. Together with the clay pot, I think the colours look lovely. I blogged about creating colour combinations like this last week. So if you’re not sure what will go with what, do check it out.

My only dilemma is going to where to put this lovely primula once it’s finished flowering. I don’t really want this colour in my semi-shaded flowerbed, but obviously won’t chuck it away. Ah well, I’ll cross that gardening bridge when I come to it! For now, I’m just enjoying this and the other lovely primulas in my garden.

Primulas in Pots – More Ideas

Talking of pots, I think they enliven even a humble metal container.

Primulas make a really effective, simple gift too. A primula in a pot is so easy to dress up with a bit of ribbon. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t love to receive one of these.

Well that’s it! I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick tour of some of the primulas I like. If you don’t have any in your garden, why not dive in now. They’re such a joyous plant – and there’s clearly a primula for every one.