Primroses: keys to the gates of heaven or fairy houses?
But the British consider primroses and gnomes. According to legend, the fabulous inhabitants of the flower kingdom in rainy weather decorate the flowers with water droplets, making them look like lanterns. And this is only a small part of the amazing stories about primroses.
Great variety of primroses
Starting your acquaintance with these flowers, you will be amazed at their diversity. Genus primrose ( Primula) includes more than 550 species! And if we also take into account the varieties and hybrids bred by breeders, sometimes transforming the original look beyond recognition, the picture turns out to be absolutely fantastic. Therefore, it is customary to divide all this abundance into sections, which experts number 23.Primroses also differ in requirements for habitat conditions. Many of them are native to Southeast Asia; some came from Tibet, the Himalayas and Western China. Only about 30 species are found in the wild in Europe. We are accustomed to consider these flowers forest dwellers, but some of them live in the mountains or in alpine meadows, others are found on river banks. It is no accident that only about 200 species of the entire abundance are cultivated in garden practice, and even less can survive in the harsh conditions of the middle lane.
Primrose different timing of flowering. There are real primroses among them, blooming literally in the snow, and there are those that bloom in the height of summer. Therefore, a flower garden of primroses can be elegant for a long time, if you choose the right varieties. Let us dwell on some sections and species found in our gardens.
Section of toothed primroses
Bright representative - primrose finely serrated. She has a characteristic spherical inflorescence on a long peduncle.
Primula finely toothed. Photo
It blooms quite late, but even a young rosette of leaves is elegant, in which the buds barely appeared.
Rosette of finely toothed primrose leaves. Photo
The plant is large (the peduncle can rise up to 70 cm!). I once had an adult fine-toothed primrose almost drowned out a young one. The picture shows how the leaves and peduncle of the hosta timidly peek out from behind the mighty foliage of the primrose. I had to transfer...
Primrose and hosta. Photo
And if you decide to definitely start this plant in your garden, take a look at our catalog, which presents fine-toothed primrose seeds from various online garden stores.
Primula vulgaris and her hybrid primrose stemless- probably one of the most frequent guests in flower beds. Popular, in particular, the series "Arctic" with large, showy flowers.
Primula is stemless. Photo
Primrose Section
It combines the most unpretentious and resilient species. For example, primrose high, characterized by wrinkled leaves collected in a basal rosette, and a peduncle up to 30 cm tall, crowned with light yellow flowers with a diameter of up to 2 cm.
Primrose high. Photo
A huge variety of varieties of high primrose allows you to choose colors: "Alba"- white, pharynx yellow; "Colossea"- crimson with a yellow throat.
Primroses amaze with a variety of shades. Photo
"Rosea"- dark pink with a bright yellow throat, "Cerulea"- dark blue with a yellow pharynx.
The color of the flowers can be so - bright, expressive. Photo
Hybrids based on high primrose produced polyanthus primroses. They have beautiful corrugated leaves and a huge variety of colors. But polyanthus primroses are unstable to frost, so they require shelter for the winter.
Primula polyanthus. Photo
Muscariodic primrose section
These are exotics, in which at first glance it is difficult to even recognize a primrose. In our latitudes, from this series, only primrose Vialya, or orchid (orchid). Unfortunately, my experience of growing it from seeds was not successful: none of the three seedlings survived, they died in infancy. This plant forms candle-shaped inflorescences on high (up to 50 cm) peduncles. Moreover, the flowers open gradually, rising from the bottom up, and the color changes from carmine red in buds to pale purple in blossoming flowers.Powdery Primrose Section
Presented mealy primrose, or sprinkled; Primrose Haller; primrose pink.Section of cortusoid primroses
It is especially popular primula cortusiformes, or rocky; Siebold's primrose, or rejected.This is only a small part - a detailed story about these amazing flowers cannot be fit in one article. If they are of interest to you, read other publications of our site: Perhaps we will return to this topic, but for now - about how to grow this beauty in your garden.
Growing and caring for primroses
Primroses are propagated by dividing the bush. Seed propagation requires patience. The seeds of primroses are small, moreover, they quickly lose their germination capacity. However, from experience I can say that many of the difficulties of this method are exaggerated. really happy not always. Often, out of 5-7 seeds in a bag of some expensive variety, only one sprouts. But there are varieties with almost one hundred percent germination.You will find a wide range of seeds of various primroses in our catalog, which combines the offers of large garden online stores.
However, no - I still carry out one procedure: I soak the seeds for a day in a solution of GUMI-20 humic concentrate. I will say right away: this is a troublesome and time-consuming business. It turned out to be easiest to soak by pouring the solution directly into the seed bag; it is very difficult to collect them from a rag. And I sow with a toothpick, carefully laying out one seed at a time on the surface of the soil.
The container with crops is covered with a film or a transparent lid, and then the main thing is to make sure that the soil does not dry out. The germination period can be very extended. Until today (April is coming!) I have primroses sown in February. They say that they can ascend in the second or third year, but it is problematic to check this at home.
Primroses in the garden. Photo
The division of the bush- an easier and more popular way of breeding primroses. One way or another, this procedure should be performed after 3-5 years, because the old bushes weaken, the leaves and flowers become smaller. One of the great things about primroses is that they tolerate dividing and transplanting very well during flowering. Read more about how to properly carry out this procedure in the publication.
Despite the variety of conditions in which these plants live, areas in partial shade are usually preferred for planting primroses. Under the direct rays of the sun, primroses wither. The soil needs fertile and loose. Water can stagnate on heavy clay soil, and primroses will dry out or suffer from diseases in the spring.
Primrose care consists mainly of and. It is recommended to water them twice a week, and even more often in drought. This is a very moisture-loving plant. Water consumption - about 3 liters per square meter of plantings. It is better to feed primroses with a weak solution of complex mineral fertilizer (at a concentration half as much as the instruction suggests), but often: once every 7-10 days from the appearance of the first leaves until the end of flowering. When primroses fade, top dressing is stopped. It is permissible to apply fertilizers that do not contain nitrogen once, otherwise the primrose will bloom worse next season, although it will please with lush foliage.
Just keep in mind: love for primroses is for a long time. Having settled a single bush in your garden, you can hardly stop there ...
