The Iowa Gardener: The tiny primrose can help blow away the winter blues

Charming, vibrant primroses (Primula spp.) are showing up now in stores and garden centers in bright spring colors and with interesting crinkled foliage. They’re ideal for bringing a bit of color into our homes for a few weeks.

This classic cottage flower is available in many different types and cultivars and include tiny rare alpine types, popular with collectors. Most grow just a few inches high and wide with gorgeous single or double flowers in white, pinks, lavender, purple, red, yellows, orange, and even green.

Indoors, enjoy a single plant in a pot or mass several pots together in a basket or other container for a knockout display that will blow away any winter blues.

Outdoors, primroses can be reliable perennials in mild, cool, temperate climates like the Pacific Northwest and parts of England and Europe, coming back year after year and even multiplying. Here in Iowa, with our hot summers and very cold winters, it’s another story. The can struggle to survive in our less-than-ideal conditions for them here.

Primroses have rich history in gardening, dating back centuries. Originating from Europe and Asia, these delicate flowers have captivated gardeners worldwide with their early bloom, distinctive colors, and adaptable nature.

The name “primrose” is derived from the Latin words “prima rosa,” meaning first rose, emphasizing their early spring appearance. The genus name Primula means “little earliest one” in Latin.

Historically, primroses were not only admired for their aesthetic appeal but also recognized for their medicinal properties. Traditional herbalists believed in the therapeutic qualities of primroses, using them to treat various ailments. Over time, their popularity as ornamental plants grew, leading to the cultivation of numerous hybrids and species, each with its unique characteristics.

Most of the primulas you’ll find in supermarkets and garden centers this time of year, in full glorious bloom, are Primula vulgaris.

Kept indoors, these plants will bloom usually for two or more weeks. Keep the soil evenly moist and the plants away from the hot air blown from heat vents. Primroses are natives of cool woodland areas and don’t like heat.

After bloom time, if you like, you can dispose of the plant or you can keep it well-watered in a sunny window. Pinch off foliage that yellows. In the spring, when temperatures no longer are dipping down into the 30s at night, you can plant it outside. Choose a spot with rich, moist soil (or add a lot of compost to the planting hole) that gets partial shade, especially in the afternoons. Primroses also need good drainage, so avoid low spots. Raised beds or slopes are an excellent place to grow primroses.

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The plants sold in supermarkets are bred specifically for one gorgeous initial bloom time. They tend to be less hardy than other types of primula, so manage your expectations. Your primrose may not last through the heat and periodic drought of an Iowa summer. And it may not last through the tough Iowa winters.

With a little luck and care, however, you’ll be able to enjoy your primroses for years to come.

Veronica Lorson Fowler is co-publisher of the Iowa Gardener website at www.theiowagardener.com.