Tender beauty: varieties of primrose and proper care for them

Primrose is a perennial tender flowering plant that blooms at the very beginning of spring. From the Latin language, Primula means "early" or "first."

It can bloom, even if snow still lies on the ground and will delight with its bright and sunny flowers, promising the long-awaited summer. In this article you will learn about the varieties of primrose, its beneficial properties, the rules for planting, transplanting and caring for it. It will also be useful to watch an interesting video on this topic.

Legends and mysterious stories

When does the flower bloom and what does it look like? Since this plant blooms in early spring, and the yellow flowers collected in inflorescences resemble a bunch of small keys, many people call these flowers "the key to the sun" or "the key to summer."

ATTENTION: Slavic peoples believed that these "golden keys" open in the spring the road to summer for the entire earthly kingdom.

In Germany, primrose is considered the key to marriage. If a girl found this flower during the Easter holidays, this meant that she would get married before the end of the year. And in the days of the Gauls and Celts, primrose was part of love drinks.

Types and their description with photos

Primrose is a rhizome herb that belongs to the family Primrose. To date, there are about 400 species of this plant. Primrose primarily grows in Asia, the Himalayas and western China.

Primrose is not large. Its height can reach from 20 to 50 cm. The leaves have a rounded solid shape and bright saturated green color. They grow an easy edge, thereby forming a basal rosette.

The flowers have a diverse color, and sometimes can even be three-colored. They can grow on stems alone or make up small inflorescences (capitate or complex umbrella). Next, you can see the types and photos of primrose flowers:

Learn more about the types and varieties of primrose, as well as about the features of perennial varieties, from our article.

Room

Indoor primrose is a favorite plant of many gardeners. Flowers of primrose primrose can be solitary or collected in racemose inflorescences. Most often, indoor varieties grow such varieties as: obkonika, soft primrose or stemless.

Obkonika

This species first appeared in China. Obkonika, or as it is also called - primrose is reverse-conical, is a perennial plant of modest size. The maximum height of the obkoniki is 20 cm.

The leaves of this species have an ovoid-elliptical shape. The base of the leaf is heart-shaped, and the edge is sinuous. With good conditions and proper care, the concon can bloom throughout the yearbut best of all, it blooms in winter or in the first months of spring.

Basically, the flowers of the obkoniki are painted in bright pink, blue, red, salmon, lavender colors.

Soft

This is a medium-sized perennial plant that can reach a height of 20 to 40 cm. The leaves of soft primrose have an oval shape with a heart-shaped base. They are very soft and have a pale green tint.

Soft primrose begins to bloom in early spring and last 3-4 months. In the natural habitat, a soft primrose of a lilac color with a yellowish pharynx is mainly found, but in recent years numerous varieties that have white, pink, red color and a yellow core have been bred.

Stemless

This is another of the most common indoor species. As a rule, in nature it is found in the vastness of North Africa, Armenia or Asia Minor. This species is a compact flower with a lush rosette of leaves, the height of which does not exceed 20 cm.

The leaves are elongated in bright green color. Stemless primrose begins to bloom in the month of April and continues until the end of July. Single flowers, which are located on elongated thin peduncles, are quite large in diameter (2-4 cm).

The natural color of this species is pale yellow, but at present, gardeners have bred numerous varieties with a variety of colors.

Garden

Garden primroses are very diverse.. The most popular of them are pillow-shaped, tall and Japanese.

Cushioned

This species has a short oblique rhizome. Its maximum height is 10 cm. The leaves are elongated, ovoid in shape with a heart-shaped base. The length of the sheet plate reaches up to 4 cm.

Flowers are single, medium-sized and located on low, thin peduncles. Petals have a deep notch, and the color of the flowers is purple-lilac. Pillow-like primrose begins to bloom in early April, sometimes even before the leaves unfold, and continues until the end of May.

High

The native land of this species is mountain meadows and the Carpathians. This species differs from the rest in high, slightly lowered peduncles, which reach a height of 35-40 cm. The leaves have an oval, slightly oblong shape and serrated edges.

Many flowers, 2 cm in diameter, are collected in umbrella inflorescences. Initially, the flowers of this species were yellow in color with a dark spot at the base, but over time, thanks to flower growers, many different colors appeared. High primrose begins to bloom in April and continues for two months.

Japanese

This species is considered one of the most elegant. It has long, large leaves of bright green color with sharp notches along the edges, and fairly high peduncles (up to 30 cm). The arrangement of flowers on the stem is uniform, and the flowers themselves reach a diameter of up to 3 cm.

IMPORTANT: This species is one of the few that bloom in the summer. Japanese primrose begins to bloom in late June and lasts for 30 days.

Evening

Due to its healing properties, it is one of the most popular primrose species. Evening primrose is quite compact and reaches a height of up to 25 cm. The leaves are wrinkled, bright green.

Their shape is elliptical, and the edges may be slightly jagged. The flowers of primrose are medium-sized and are collected in umbrella-shaped inflorescences. They have a pleasant aromatic aroma and have a bright sunny yellow color. Evening primrose was brought to Europe from North America around the middle of the 17th century, and already at the beginning of the next found its application in medicine.

Use in landscape design

Primrose is very popular not only among gardeners, but also landscape designers around the world. If a fountain, pond or river is located on your site, you definitely need to plant primroses of different shades. They will decorate your garden, and the reflection of bright colors on the water surface will turn it into a picturesque picture.

Using low-growing varieties of primroses, you can create real masterpieces on the lawn of the site. For example, you can plant stunted primrose in the form of a butterfly, and the frame of metal wire will hold the shape.

Landscape designers use primrose not only in private areas, but also actively decorate with them curbs, monuments or plant along the paths in parks. Also, this flower adorns the northern and eastern slopes in rock gardens.

Landing

In the open ground

If you decide to plant a primrose in the open ground, then it is best to do this in the fall or spring, in the second year of the plant's life. The most suitable landing site is a flower bed or lawn, located in the shade of trees or bushes.

Under direct sunlight, this plant grows much worse. Do not forget that primrose loves moisture.. An ideal place for her would be near a pond or river. The ideal soil for this flower would be fertile loam.

Learn more about the planting and care of garden primrose in the fall in our material.

At home

In order to grow primrose at home, the ideal solution is to plant seeds (about what you need to know to grow primrose at home from seeds, read here). If you follow all the rules during the cultivation, you will get an excellent flower with excellent health. Seeds can be purchased on the market or collected from faded plants.

For planting seeds at home, it is best to use a shallow plastic container. Seeds of some varieties of primrose need cooling.

To do this, you can hold the seeds in the refrigerator for several weeks, or place a container with sown seeds on the balcony, if the air temperature there is quite low (3-5 degrees Celsius).

Read more about planting indoor and garden perennial primrose and about further care of the plant, read here.

Watch a video about growing primrose from seeds at home:

Care

Primrose is an unpretentious plant, which even a novice can cope with. All that is necessary is to comply with certain conditions:

1. It is better to keep the flower on the windowsills, which do not fall in direct sunlight.
2. The optimum temperature is considered to be + 16 ... +22 degrees. At home, it is often necessary to ventilate the room in which the flower is located or occasionally take it out to the street.
3. The primrose easily adapts to natural moisture, but it is best to periodically spray the flower.
4. Water for irrigation should be soft and purified. It is worth watering a little and regularly to ensure that the soil is always slightly moist.
5. Several times a season, it is necessary to feed the primrose with a mineral complex with a low nitrogen content.
6. Primrose is very sensitive to fungal diseases. To avoid this, observe the watering regime. If the plant has nevertheless become infected, it should immediately be treated with fungicide, and the affected areas should be cut and destroyed.

In the garden

1. Primrose wake up quite early and in the first days of awakening, you need to start feeding the plant after a long hibernation.
2. In dry summertime, it is necessary to monitor the state of the root system and to avoid drying out, you need to regularly water the plant.
3. In the fall, watering should be stopped, since the primrose should enter the winter with dry soil (read more about preparing the plant for winter here).
4. When melt water begins to descend, it is necessary to ensure that it does not linger in those places where the primrose grows. From stagnant meltwater primrose can rot and die.

In more detail about caring for primrose at home and in the garden, we described in this article.

Transfer

The best time for transplantation is 3-5 years of plant life, but provided that it has grown enough. A transplant is best done by dividing the bush. The optimal time of year for this procedure is early spring or mid-summer:

1. First you need to moisten the plant.
2. Then the flower is dug up. If desired, the remaining soil can be washed off the rhizome. This item is optional, but it is more convenient for many gardeners to work with a clean plant.
3. Next, the primrose is divided with a sharp knife into arbitrary parts. It is very important that at least one flowering bud is present on each part.
4. Then the separated parts are planted either in a prepared container or in open ground.

For more details on when to plant primrose and how to do it correctly, find out in this material.

Watch the video about transplanting primrose bush dividing method:

Autumn and winter preparations

Despite the fact that primrose is considered a winter-resistant plant and begins to bloom in early spring, many varieties need special preparation for the winter season. Young primroses and such varieties as: Japanese, fine-toothed, ordinary, Klusiana, Siebolt, Sibthorp, must be covered with a thick layer of dry leaves by winter.

Also, in Japanese and finely toothed primrose, most of the leaves should be cut to avoid rotting.

Disease

Primrose susceptible to many diseases, and also pretty much suffer from pests. The most common problems are:

• decay of the root neck and stems;
• rust;
• bacterial spotting;
• anthracnose;
• jaundice;
• powdery mildew;
• cucumber mosaic.

The most dangerous pests for this plant are:

1. gall and leaf nematodes;
2. weevil;
3. aphid;
4. slugs;
5. spider mite.

The best prevention against diseases and pests is compliance with all the rules for the care of primrose, but if your plant still gets sick, you should immediately remove all affected areas and treat the plant with special preparations or a solution of copper sulfate.

Beneficial features

TIP: Primrose has a wide range of beneficial properties and contains many vitamins. The evening primrose is considered the most popular type for medical purposes. Many experts add leaves and powder from the roots of primrose to food, both in raw form and as spices and dressings.

Also, from the leaves and roots of primrose, you can make tinctures that help with various diseases (kidney and bladder diseases, tonsillitis, headaches). Tincture from the raw materials of primrose has established itself as an excellent expectorant, and several leaves of this plant contain a daily norm of vitamins for humans.

Conclusion

Primrose, according to many, is a universal plant. It blooms with bright colors, has many medicinal properties and is completely unpretentious in care. This flower will be the perfect decoration for any garden and window sill.

Watch the video: Spring Perennials Series: Drumstick Primrose and Helleborus (November 2024).