It is actually easy to keep these plants blooming well and providing a taste of spring indoors for several weeks. We then say “I can’t grow Primroses”, and move on to something else for both indoor and outdoor gardening. Because they require consistent plentiful moisture (but not flooding at the roots), good light, and cool temperatures to continue to do well after purchase, they are not often happy performers in our winter- dark, overheated homes, and the plants soon collapse, their flowers brown and shriveled. Unfortunately, these plants provide many people with their first and last Primrose growing experience. These hybrids are designed as “Gift Plants”, blooming in 4 months or less from seed, which can be sown in the commercial cool greehouse during a time when there is usually space available, sold through mass marketing, and discarded after blooming. The hybridizers found a good thing in the wide color range, early spring bloom and compact habit of the garden Primroses (Primula acaulis, Primula polyanthus, and probably a few of the wild species) and interbred them to make a profitable plant. These Primroses are relatively new to cultivation. As the price is usually lower than that for 4 oranges, we may tuck two or three pots in the cart, put them on the window sill or dining table at home, and wonder why they die within a week. Some have a perfect star or circle, others a scalloped pattern, or even a raised ring with dots of bright yellow – a “crown” – in the center of each flower, and it is hard to decide which plant is most beautiful. Looking closely at the reds, blues, yellows, oranges, purples or pinks of these flowers, we may find the yellow centers are not all alike. As we wander the aisles of the larger grocery stores or discount centers in search of something to brighten our days at this time of year, we often run across rather forlorn displays of little plants with brightly colored flowers with the label “Primrose” stuck in each pot.
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