Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Primula => Topic started by: Claire Cockcroft on February 21, 2016, 09:50:29 PM
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I have no trouble germinating Primula flaccida seeds but have a hard time growing them to blooming size. Those that flower don't last long either in the garden or in pots. Can anyone offer advice on how to make this primula thrive? I love the flowers and their fragrance.
Thanks!
...Claire
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I'm also waiting to hear if anyone has good advice how to grow P.flaccida.
I have had it once, it was planted in my woodland bed and it flowered the second year. I loved it, but next spring it was gone.
That was a bad winter anyway, I lost some other Primulas too, so I don't know if it was that particular winter or if P.flaccida just dies easily after flowering.
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Mine died after flowering too ; I had bought it when I had seen its beautiful flowers in a nursery I visited
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Sadly it is a short-lived perennial which seems to last longer when grown in a lean mix which is permanently moist when the plant is in growth but on the dry side from autumn die-back until new Spring growth appears. I grow my plants in a stone trough on the north side of my house in a lean gritty woodsy mix. There is no direct sun & the eaves of the house protect against the worst of the winter wet though the trough needs watering throughout most summers (though not 2015 here!).
This has worked well for the last 4 years but the plants self-seed into the trough which may explain their persistence.
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Thank you, Steve. I will certainly give your advice a try. I have a raised planter on the north side of my house that gets almost no direct sunlight except in mid-summer. It is covered in winter to keep pots dry. Mostly, though, it sounds like I need to lighten up my planting mix for P. flaccida!
...Claire
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This is discouraging news.
I bought seeds of flaccida from Bjornar Olsen. (chinesealpines.com) and sowed them in what I thought was a big enough pot. Well, every seed germinated. The surface of the pot was solidly green.
I have just pricked out 75 of them, and the other two hundred or so have been dumped in the garden to take their chances. And now, to discover that they behave rather like foxgloves is discouraging.
The other primula I bought from Bjornar is deflexa. I haven't checked for more information on it yet. Two of them have germinated. Maybe they will be long-lived.