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Primula
Guernsey Donkey2
Posts: 6,713
in Plants
How difficult (or easy) is it to grow primula from seed. I tried quite a few years ago but none of the seeds germinated. I would like to give them another go - when should I do this & what variety should I sow? I would prefer perennials.
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i think all primulas are perennial. Fresh seed, green if you can get it. Sow straight away, well drained, gritty compost, and leave it somewhere shady outside til it germinates.
Which varieties do you like. I like primroses and cowslips and so do the bees
In the sticks near Peterborough
Bought seed that has been dried out doesn't germinate very well usually. Sometimes it's better to buy a plant and take your own seed off.
I bought a Primuli Vivaldi a few weeks back - I would love to have more but not sure when to collect the seed - I tried to paste a picture of one on here but that didn't work & I don't have a photo of mine to show at the mo. It has tall mauve/pink flowers. We have primrose in abundance here - it seems to reseed so easily on our lawn.
Primula vialii?
The same, get it fresh, before the seed pot goes brown, and sow it don't save it.#
Everything seeds best in the lawn or in a gravel drive. They make good seed beds
I've rescued loads of plants from the drive and grown them on
In the sticks near Peterborough
You're right there nut - we have agapanthus growing in our path - it is difficult to pull out the whole plant without breaking the roots - we have far too many and usually throw them away when we are able to get them out of the path. Holly, cotoneaster and geranium maderense also root in the path, as for the lawn well there isn't much grass but there are plenty of primroses, clover, daisies and weeds (which the tortoises love to nibble on).
Yep, I find the gravel drive fantastic for cowslips
With the primulas, do remember that F1 hybrids won't come true from seed, and may not even produce viable seed. With them, you'll need to split the plants when they've produced offshoots to get more.
Just grass is boring GD. I find it hard to walk between the cowslips and primroses of grass paths in spring
In the sticks near Peterborough
Lovely, they look so pretty - quite natural too. We have primroses and primula in our lawn but sadly no cowslips - I guess they don't like the soil here as I have tried growing them in the past. I will give the primulas a shot at seed sowing and see what happens Alina W - if not I will try to split the plant in the spring next year.
vialii is a species, no problem with seeding true with that one.
It's not just the F1 hybrids that don't come true, none of the hybrids or culltivars will.
In the sticks near Peterborough
When do I collect the seed - the seed head is soggy at the mo - do I pick it now - wait for a dry day (when will that be I wonder), collect the seed in the autumn, so many questions!?!?