My woodland garden gets quite dry in summer, but I have two types of Primulas, and don't know the name of either. I got one years ago from a friend and it tolerates extremely dry soil and never dies back--maroon flowers with a yellow eye.

I got the second from another friend, low, slightly fuzzy leaves with a deep fuschia colored flower. It blooms quite early and spreads quite readily, and in dry years completely disappears. I wish I had the moisture to grow more since Primulas are fully deer resistant too.

'camp', as I recall sunnyborders is a big fan of primulas. I trust he will be along shortly.

Mmmmmm, the lovely primulas, I only have one or two now but used to have quite a few. I do have a little clump of Quaker's Bonnet and one or two Wandas but the ones I don't have anymore and really miss are the Cowhicans, with their velvety flowers and bronze tinted foliage.

My first experience with the later was from a packet of seed, I couldn't get them to germinate so out to the compost pile they went. Low and behold what did I find growing on top of the compost pile a dozen or so little primula plants, how was this newbie at the time to know they needed light to germinate, didn't say so on the packet. I ended up with several different colored ones, my favorite was a very vivid dark blue, very striking it was. Alas someone came in when we weren't home and pinched it. We now have a six foot fence around the garden in back, unfortunately that hasn't stopped things from disappearing tho :(. Hmmm, I must look for another packet of seed, not as readily available around here as they used to be.

Annette

I tried an experiment this year - sowing the seeds while still green and slightly sticky - have you ever tried searching for seedheads in late summer - a complete fail as the stalks collapse and the receptacles disintegrate almost at once...only the upright cowslips can be collected later. Anyway, I dutifully sowed tyhe seeds on top of the soil and (thankfully) covered the trays with a lid, stashed them on the wall coping somewhere and promptly forgot about them as the garden vanished into undergrowth (and overgrowth). Now that the daylily clumps are browning off, I came across the forgotten tray (this happens a lot to me) and lo and behold, the surface was covered in promising green growth, already showing that lovely wrinkled leafage. So hurrah, the start of a colony of vulgaris (in hundreds rather than the mere dozen or so I already have) now looks like filling in some space around various poplar stumps.

Normally, I have always bought seed, sown it in autumn and waited for a winter stratification (invariably losing many to the general attrition and pot-driven neglect in my garden), leaving me with just a few to plant out...but this year, I might actually start on growing them as they really should be grown - in generous abundance. A sneaky visit to the local botanics yielded a fat envelope of P.prolifera - tall yellow candelabras.

In other woodland news, we got bored with repetitive bulb planting after the first thousand and my youngest and I amused ourselves barrowing the soil spoil from the compost toilet, covering one of the poplar stumps and sowing grass seed - creating what we have fondly called a 'tump'. Not sure wheher this is an actual word or not (we have a habit of making up vague portmanteau words) but nonetheless, we now have some much needed topology in our clearing...although we could easily find the whole structure has been stomped by a wayward deer and is now just an untidy heap...but having space also gives us a chance to indulge ourselves with silly horticultural experiments (such as the inosculation attempts now coming into year 2 of growth and approaching the important grafting stage).

In another year or so, I will be able, I hope, to send you as much seed as you can use, Annette.

My current garden doesn't lend itself to primulas, being far too exposed and beachy in character. But I did have a woodland section in my old garden that included primulas, typically those that would tolerate somewhat drier conditions. My favorites were from the gold lace polyanthus strain, sold here as 'Mahogany Sunrise' - something about that color combination was just so darn appealing. Grew them with Fritillaria michaelovskyi (with a similar coloration)in front of Dicentra 'Gold Heart', one of my favorite woodland verge garden combinations.

mm, 'exposed and beachy' a favourite combination and one I shamelessly ripped off from Derek Jarman's garden on Dungeness - only at my allotment. Sadly, the nutritious soil has meant that all those little tufts and clumps of crambe and dianthus are now one huge amorphous spread, snivelling under far too vigorous leguminous things such as indigofera and lathyrus.

Doesn't yours actually overlook Puget Sound GG (envy)?

Yes, I am tucked away on one of the many small bays that populate the Sound, so not quite as rough and beachy as if I were directly on the ocean :-) Not nearly as exposed as Jarman's garden as there are woods directly behind the property (did you know we have a Dungeness here as well?). And while many areas of the Sound have native forests/woodlands that creep almost to the water's edge, my property is wide open and cleared - no big trees at all. A very different gardening environment than I was used to and far more suited to full sun, Mediterranean type plants than the more woodlandy, part shade gardens I spent most of my life cultivating and developing. While I love the plant choices I get to play with now, I do miss some of those woodland plants - the primulas, the trilliums, dicentra, ferns and even the bigleaf hydrangeas (which tend to fry in my unrelenting summer sun). There is one tiny area of my garden that gets some shade by virtue of the proximity of other structure (no trees). And it is crammed with a few of the shade-loving plants I just couldn't bear to be without. Still trying to figure out the best placement for a bamboo iris (Iris confusa) a friend gifted me with without it too suffering from too much sun.

I grow a small selection of primulas, mostly from seed

p. denticulata, drumstick

p. japonica, candelabra

p. kisoana

Had a few p. polyanthus in my beds which died out after a couple of years. They are one of the first spring flowers that show up in grocery and flower stores everywhere here in the spring and are very inexpensive so most people here grow them as spring annuals. I no longer buy these as prefer the ones that have longer flower stems and are perennial or self seeding for me.

"In another year or so, I will be able, I hope, to send you as much seed as you can use"... that would be lovely Camp. In return would you like some Cardiocrinum seed, I usually don't bother with it but did collect it for someone else a few years back. If I remember correctly it wasn't ready to harvest till sometime in November, this is what the seed pods look like right now.

Annette

I have tried two kinds of Primulas, both candelabras. One has survived well, a nice clear pink one. The other, P. capitata, I've tried twice when I've seen plants available, a lovely soft purply-blue which has died both times, though whether it has been due to voles or winter cold, I am not sure.

Ooh, GG, You have made the same journey as me in reverse - I have grown full sun plants almost forever and have barely any experience with shade. My only experience with woodlanders have been those delicate, demure plants such as dodecatheon, cortusa, ramondas, deinanthe, epimediums - apart from the last lot, all of those have been grown in pots and troughs - I haven't a clue how they would survive in a rough and weedy woodland. I think I am going to struggle with issues of scale.

Mnswgal - growing from seed - best way for you? Did you collect your own seed? I ask because I had struggled to grow primula (well, lots of things in fact) for years until I either used fresh seed that I had saved or been given...and the difference was remarkable. For the longest time, I had blamed my own uselessness for germination fails with seed ordered from various sources (with no guarantee of viability) - using the current season's seed was an eye-opener...and primula definitely seem to lose viability very rapidly.

Oh Annette - your wonderful, marvellous cardiocrinum - I cannot forget the mind-blowing pictures you posted of this glorious, wonderful plant. Growing them would absolutely be proof that I had 'made it' as a gardener. I am in my 3rd year of growing martagons - currently have numerous small bulbs about the size of a robin's egg - maybe3/4inch diameter so a couple of years to go yet...but they might be going in the ground this year...so the 6-7 year wait for cardiocrinums doesn't fill me with despair. I will have a look to see what I can tempt you with - certainly some p.prolifera/helodoxa.

I admit to being desperate for mertensia seed - this is hard to get in the UK - I managed to get only 2 seedlings out of the tiny amount of seeds I bought online so still have a long wait till I can harvest my own seed. Might have to bite the bullet and actually buy some plants.

Thanks, Rouge.

I aim to do mixed perennial gardening for colour. Consequently, in our climate and with my style of perennial gardening, two of the very best perennials are primulas for spring and garden phlox for summer.

I do remember as a young kid being taken to Hughenden Manor, near High Wycombe, Bucks, for Primrose Day and finding lots of primroses on the grounds. My politics have expanded a bit since then, but I'm still just as keen on primulas.

Primulas contribute greatly to our garden in spring, are then hidden under the taller perennials of summer and finally returned to the light when the summer perennials are cut back in latest summer/earliest fall. We have long pleasant falls here.

We have a variety of different primulas, but I'd say the plain old Polyanthus-types put on a great show.

(May 21, 2015).

Brought this one back from the garden centre in Ambleside, Vancouver; labelled as 'Jay Jay', but turns out it's 'Kenlough Beauty'.

(May 18, 2015).

Bought as 'Perth Sunset', but thinking it's 'Perth Sunrise' (May 21,2015).

Normally avoid putting seeders in our garden. But do welcome the gentle seeding of Japanese primulas, especially, 'Miller's Crimson' (June 1, 2015).

Campanula, the seeds I winter sowed were traded seeds. I have a limited moist area so haven't looked hard for other types of seeds. Haven't found a source for fresh seeds in my friends' gardens.

OK Camp, your name's on the cardiocrinum seed. The last time I bothered to collect seed it was somewhere in November, I'll get your mailing addy then and pop them in the mail.

Annette

I'm going to try some from seed this winter.

I have only grown the polyanthus type in the past, but I am happy to have received from a lovely lady both plants and seed from a North American native Primula mistassinica. Has anyone grown this one?

Ooh, lovely. I have not grown this - indeed, never heard of it, but I have grown p.farinosa, aka bird's eye primrose - a similar variety, I think. One of those with white dusted foliage and, happily for me, did well in calcareous conditions (unlike some of the asiatics which much prefer a peaty, acidic soil). Would like to grow it in a drystone wall, if I had one, but does well in alpine troughs. Is this the case with mistassinica? Looks like a little treasure. Do keep us (me) updated, pls.

Yes Camp they seem similar (with much variation) if not the same according to this link. Fascinating species. I will keep you updated on this little gem. Once mine get established it will be interesting to see the possible differences. Mine show no farina at this time. Here is the link P. mistassinica

I've yet again set myself up for failure with the sowing of way too many primula seed last winter. I now have many seedlings waiting for roomier quarters and just can't seem to find the right spot for them in my garden. I'm hoping somewhere in the range of species and hybrids growing I'll find just a few which will tolerate the dry, warm and windy conditions they'll be stuck in.

I'm blaming it on this thread, I seeded two flats of the 'Cowichan strain' primulas the beginning of the month in a seed starting mix covered with a bit of sand. These trays are also covered with clear plastic domes to keep the birds from scratching in them and also to keep the %$#@ slugs and snails off them. Since they like cool weather to germinate they are outside sitting on my potting bench in the lath house.

One tray is seed with mixed colors, the other with just blues, I'm hoping at least one of the blues will be the same as the one that was stolen from my garden years ago, these will be moved to the greenhouse once they are up and growing. I noticed today they are starting to germinate, such tiny specks of green I went in and got the magnifying glass just to make sure, these old eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be.

AGAIN yet another theft, someone has been in my greenhouse and pinched my very nice min/max thermometer, one you set manually, a Christmas gift from our oldest boy. Needless to say I was pissed off, sorry but that is the politest phrase I can think of at the moment, the greenhouse is now kept locked all the time which is also a pain you know where, especially when you're standing outside the door with arms full and remember the door is locked and the key is in the house.

Camp, the cardiocrinum seed still has away to go before it's ready for harvesting but it's getting there :).

Annette

Noooo, that's dreadful, Annette. Every so often, someone posts a distressing tale of having plants dug up and stolen and here, in the UK, a favourite robbing theme involves our beloved garden sheds. When plants or trowels and spades are involved, it does point to the perpetrators being gardeners themselves which is even more shocking because in my fantasy world, ALL gardeners are invariably good decent, creative, caring types and the betrayal is horrible. I can't easily forgive but can at least see why thieves might steal an expensive brushcutter or chainsaw, but watering cans, thermometers and the like....what swine. Here's to a successful germination and heaps of gorgeous little primula to soften the blow.

I have germination of pots of auriculas I sowed just because I had the seeds, so might just try a little edging area with them in the clearing - maybe treat them like vulgaris and just pop them around a tree trunk.

Annette that is a horrible, horrible person (people) who would do such a thing. I would feel the same way.

Like Camp I really like to believe all gardeners are a good lot. Some sweet unsuspecting person who gardens has likely receiving these items from a lazy, good for nothing as a gift.

Cold comfort but at least it leaves us with our fantasy intact.