Primrose Path

At the beginning of every season I take inventory of my garden to see what works and what doesn’t, and where the “holes” are in my current planting schemes.  This task is easier to do in the spring, because the growth is less abundant.  Every year I vow to plant more tulips and I generally keep that vow.  The squirrels sometimes have other ideas, which is partly why I have to renew the vow every year.

This spring I have decided that I need more primroses.  The primroses already in the garden are opening now and they seem so right to me—undemanding, cheerful, and the essence of spring.  Some of mine are nursery specimens.  Others are grocery store impulse purchases that I bought for less than three dollars apiece, displayed in the house at the end of winter and installed in the garden when spring arrived.  A grocery store primrose sits in a tiny planting bed right by the side steps leading up to the front porch.  It has gone through four or five winters and come back faithfully every spring, opening its blue petals on the first warm days.  Usually I surround it with some spring pansies, but this year I think I will give it the companionship of additional primroses.

Vita Sackville-West, gardener and writer, had the same idea long ago when she mused on primroses in one of her garden columns. “I remembered that the whole primula family was gregarious in its tastes and hated the loneliness of being one solitary, expensive little plant.  They like huddling together…”

There are 400 species of primroses or primula, as they are to those who use Latin names, and even more cultivated varieties.  The entire clan is tied together by a significant distinguishing feature–the rosette of basal leaves that appears before the flowers.  I think the rosettes look like small lettuces.  The flower stems can be long or short, but they are always leafless.  Left to their own devices, all primulas would have five petals apiece, fused into a tube at the bottom of each flower.  Breeders are never content to leave well enough alone, however, and many varieties now feature double sets of petals.  The doubles look like little roses, which seems rather fitting for plants that start out with a rosette of leaves.

Rock garden enthusiasts are fond of the alpine auricula primroses, featuriing flowers with white or gold centers that contrast with the darker petals.  These are usually sold by specialist nurseries and need the excellent drainage provided in rock gardens or special troughs.

Show auriculas are unusual in appearance and can be combinations of gray, pea green, red, yellow or blue-purple, often with white edges.  The flowers and often the foliage are covered with a floury white substance that auricula fanciers call “farina.”  These primroses are fascinating to look at, but require special glasshouse conditions to flourish.  Rain damages their appearance, which is why the English auricula aficionados build little “theaters” or partially enclosed display boxes to showcase their prize specimens.  The relatives of the show auriculas are known as “border auriculas.”  They feature many of the same color combinations, but can stand up to outdoor garden conditions.

Most of us do not want primroses that have to be treated like delicate invalids.  For us, there are the perennial candelabra primroses, with tall stalks topped by rounded heads of small, five-petaled flowers in an array of bright or pastel colors.  Some of the best of these are the ‘North Hill Strain,’ developed in Vermont by garden writers Joe Eyk and Wayne Winterrowd.  North Hill primroses bloom in a mix of warm pastels, including shades of melon and yellow.  They look wonderful near water, which suits their moisture-loving nature.

There are also many low-growing primroses, much like the supermarket type.  They make excellent spring groundcovers when you group them in arrangements of three, five or seven plants.  Right now, many retailers are selling the Belarina primrose series, which features double flowered plants in an array of colors including cream, orange-yellow bi-colors and pink.

Best of all, primroses are most fond of partial shade, which means that you can spread them around all those little garden pockets that don’t get a lot of direct sunlight.  In dry weather primroses will always benefit from supplemental water.  At all other times they take care of themselves.

You can buy the ‘North Hill’ strain of primroses from White Flower Farm, P.O. Box 50, Route 63, Litchfield, CT  06759, (800)-420-2852, www.whiteflowerfarm.com.  Free catalog.  For other primrose selections, try Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Rd., Madison, OH 44057, (800)-852-5243, www.bluestoneperennials.com.  Free catalog.