Primula vulgaris - Primrose

Primula vulgaris is the first plant to flower in my garden this year which is not surprising as it’s all in the (common) name, primrose - prima rosa, or first (native) flower. 

This starts this series where I aim to post every native plant in my 1/4 acre Wilshire garden. Last year I counted 77 so buckle up! 

Primula vulgaris is an herbaceous perennial plant and is found typically in woodland, hedgerows and on North banks but also in grassland though they’re not super keen on hot sun, so no danger of that in the UK at the moment.

The primrose is recorded as hosting 31 British insects including two Diptera (flies) for which Primula is the only host and 29 Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) most of which are moths and a couple are butterflies including the beautiful Pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne) and fascinatingly the Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina) whose larvae’s only food plant is the Primula the primrose and cowslip species.

Richard Maybe tells us in ‘Flora Botanica’ that we have Primrose Day on the 19th April which is a little way off but demonstrates just how long these little rays of sunshine stay in flower and all the early nectar they will supply to our hungry insect pollinators. Primrose day came about with the botanist Sir George Birdwood apparently suggesting this after Benjamin Disraeli’s death in 1881 as the former Prime Minister had such an admiration of the flower.