Primula Vulgaris
Everyone loves Primula Vulgaris. Our native Primrose has possibly been the subject of fellow bloggers more often than any other plant.
I will put in my tuppence worth here, not only because I am very fond of this plant but also for the reason, that I made a decision some time ago to profile every plant which we have in our garden now, or have had in the past.
This task, if I take it seriously enough, should help see me through to a time when I should receive a letter from the reigning monarch.
Primula Vulgaris, starts to bloom very early, in Aberdeen more often in mid/late March. However even in Aberdeen I have seen blooms start to open in February.
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The pictures of this one were taken in our Cheshire garden, where the first blooms did indeed start to open early in February.
Over the years we have grown many of the brightly coloured Primulas and Polyanthus, which give a good show in Spring. These plants are generally treated as annuals and replaced with Summer bedding come late May/early June. I suspect here in Cheshire it should be safe enough to plant out the Summer bedding at least a couple of weeks earlier than this.
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Being a native plant, Primula Vulgaris gives more garden satisfaction.
Its dependable, perennial, in fact most years it remains evergreen, and reading your comments, it seems they are capable of blooming all year round . It grows in soil which is either on the acidic or Alkaline side.
Looks good at the front of the border or sensational at the edge of a woodland area. We have such a woodland spot, which I have claimed, as it seems to be in no man’s land. It actually looks really good from our garden, I just have to create a method of access.
Well anyway, these Primula Vulgaris with their pale yellow blooms are dotted here and there in our front and back garden. Blooming profusely now in late March, I expect they will still be going strong well into April.
*** Primula vulgaris ***
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I spent such a long time ridding our Aberdeen garden of Leylandii. Guess what, well you don’t really have to as you can see for yourself.
Yes, Leylandii running the length of our Cheshire back garden.
For the past three months I have been kidding myself that this was kind of all right. The mild Winter resulted in continued growth of this monster through the season.
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I am feeling less troubled by it now as, its COMING OUT, roots an all, so glad we have come to this decision. I am not keen to tackle this job myself so I have arranged for the heavy squad to deal with it, hopefully next week.
In its place we are putting up wooden trellis, where we will grow climbing Roses and Clematis.
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The front garden, although there isn’t much in the way of blooms at the moment, I am rather fond of it.
I have been continuing to cut out additional borders where we can add a bit of colour in Spring and Summer.
All the main existing borders had been well planted up, and to be quite honest was quite easy on the eye, even in the dead of Winter, well, we didn’t really have a Winter, but you know what I’m getting at.
There are a few shrubs that will need replacing, and I will probably see to this soon. That’s the Hydrangea Pinky Winky in the tub, apparently I have to find a place for it.
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Cant say these guys have been making a nuisance of themselves, in fact they are very entertaining.
I was contacted by the producers, who are at the moment looking for gardeners like myself to put their names, or should I say gardens forward for the Alan Titchmarsh (Britain’s Best Gardens)
They had come across my blog as they may have done with yours. Anyway, after seeing pictures of our Aberdeen garden they were asking if we wanted to participate or nominate anyone else.
As we no longer live in Aberdeen, I had to decline, however I have many blogging friends with beautiful gardens, perhaps you would like to check it out, go on, click on the link. Britain’s Best Gardens
If you happen to leave a comment I will be sure to visit your site and do the same
Just hope we have chosen well Sunil, always want more than you can have though.
Hi Alistair, I agree that Leylandii is so dull and boring the only way to improve it is to take it out completely. The trellis of clematis and roses will be so much better that I’m envious you get to choose which ones to have running along its length.
Thanks for dropping by, I may have tolerated this one also Elizabeth, just that our small garden need every bit of added space.
I came to you via janet and am pleased to have found you. Love primroses. We have lots up here on our North Wales hillside. They are wonderfully adaptable flowers and seem to grow everywhere, given a chance. I am also with you on Leylandii. Not meant for gardens at all in my opinion. We do have one short length here behind our holiday cottage which I tolerate for its dense evergreen presence and because it is needed for privacy. All the new hedges we have put in are mixed native things and are lovely things in their own right!
Thanks SB, My host said I had exceeded my bandwith limit, sorted out now. I think our garden had a good chance of being featured, its just that we no longer live in it.
I came by last week, but there seemed to be a problem and I was unable to get to your web site. So glad it is all fixed now. Your primroses are lovely. The gold center is beautiful. Your garden is definitely worth being featured…somewhere, if not there.
Just about everything is cheaper Annette. I think Limes are seen as trees which respond well to pollarding, but I am not thinking about it.
Well at least when you do think about it you will probably find tree surgeons cheaper down in Cheshire than they are in Aberdeen. How about pollarding? Can you do that with limes? Oh sorry you didn’t want to think about it yet. . .
Annette, glad you got it all off your chest and I agree with every word. Now, what about this huge tree in our front garden, just found out its a Lime. Far too big for its position but I really don’t want to think about it at the moment.
Janet, I am gearing myself up to tackling the big paint job. Quite a lot of other fence panels also required replacing. Think I may get a chance to get stuck in today.
I can’t get enough of our native primrose, I have been enjoying its flowers here since early February, and they are getting better and better. I certainly plan to plant more. Hurrah for ridding yourselves of that leylandii hedge, such a high maintenance monoculture, and I hate the way it dries out the surrounding soil. Will look forward to your new plantings on the trellis that will replace it. I fear I have missed my opportunity to plant clematis on my trellis this year, as I have to paint it first, and it is already hard to get to thanks to the new growth at its base. Your front garden does indeed look very pleasant, though I am sure you will continue to add character and colour. Nice to have a good basis though, it makes it a pleasure rather than an urgent need for revolution. Hope your building work is going well and you are both enjoying your first Cheshire spring.
The primula vulgaris are looking wonderful here this year – will post some pictures soon. They are a special plant – one of the few wild flowers that I don’t mind seeding around.
Don’t get me started on Leylandii hedges, though – I noticed yours in your first pictures of your new house, but didn’t want to say anything too depressing when you had just moved. I am so glad you have taken it out as they are so much work (or expense) keeping them cut and they take so much goodness and moisture from the soil. We have our own one at the front of the garden which would have been fine if I had known to trim it every year when it was young. As it was I didn’t have clue and thought it looked better natural. It is now a terrible mess, but would leave us very exposed to the street if we took it out. Then we have two other hedges that are in neighbours’ gardens but that we have to trim every year.
I agree that they should be banned, or at least people should be responsible for the trimming of both sides of their own hedges!
There I told you not to get me started.
What a shame you missed the Alan Titmarsh show with your wonderful Aberdeen garden. Never mind I’m sure they have you on their radar now so we hope to see your next garden on a show in a few years.
Thanks Deborah, The trellis is now up and looking even better than I expected.
What an honor to be selected for Britain’s Best Gardens! Someday your present garden may receive the same honor. The trellis you are planning should be beautiful! Doing a post on every plant in your garden is quite a task, but it will certainly keep your blog going for a long time. Lucky for us!
conifers just keep growing, leylandii grows extremely quickly and not a wise choice for any garden or anywhere for that matter.
Hi Alistair,
As you know I love my Primulas and give our own native primrose a place in my top five for its simple beauty and ease of cultivation. We refer to it as our primrose but it shows its versatility by being found in the wild from Scandinavia to Africa.
Thanks for dropping by Sarah, and yes it is good to be rid of the Leylandii
Farewell Leylandii, hello neighbours and welcome to some truly lovely climbers. What a difference a new owner makes. You are going to be one popular Cheshire resident! It’s a shame Mr Titchmarsh missed out on the opportunity to spend time in your Aberdeen garden… I guess he’ll just have to wait until series 3.
Hello Rosie, hope you are well. Our front garden in Aberdeen was indeed smaller.
Can never go wrong with planting a little native primula. They’re my favourites too 🙂 Alistair I’m delighted to see the length of your front garden – the one in Aberdeen was much smaller in comparison. I’m sure with that hedge away there will be such potential along the boundary for lots and lots of colour.
That is a lovely garden
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Long cold Winter Larry, you will be glad when its done with.
Trust all is well with you Alistair… we continue with one of the coldest seasons overall that I can recall…another slushy wet week before us I’m afraid… no signs of any growth in the garden except the odd tulip peaking through in a warm sink here and there… Larry
Donna, I think the trellis is going to look so much better than Leylandii.
Helene, I may well find that this Primula continues to bloom much longer in this part of the country.
The hedge has now gone Frances, and what a difference.
I can see or rather hear you are moving on and adjusting to your new garden and surroundings Alistair, the garden looks nice to me and I am envious that you have inherited plants and, well, a garden, unlike me who had what looked like a house in a moorland field!
I keep hearing about leylandii being a problem, growing fast and large, etc. huh I wish! I planted some about 10 years ago and they are only about 5-6 feet tall, they have done better than some trees I planted but no better than the birch and alder and the lodge pole pines far out grow them,
primroses grow and bloom almost year round here and don’t need shade, I;ve found a lot of ‘shade plants’ grow in open ground here,
good luck with the hedge removal and the building work, Frances
Lovely photos of a real trooper in my garden. I have quite a few Primula vulgaris and most of them have been flowering non-stop since I got them autumn 2012! I wonder if they will flower through this summer too without a break – if so, that must truly be a record….
Good decision on the Leylandii, can’t stand the thing myself, should be forbidden to be sold and planted in private gardens! In fact, I think it is forbidden in certain boroughs down here. You are lucky to have squirrels that are behaving, those in my garden have decided on a rather varied diet, including the new shoots on all my roses! You can see them on a video I posted on the 25th March. Thanks for the link about Britain’s Best Gardens, I suspect there will be thousands of worthy candidates for something like that, would be a difficult thing to be considered for 🙂
Oh too bad this invitation did not come a year earlier. I too love your native Primula Vulgaris and have it planted in a few key spots. Soon they will bloom as the snow melts more. I love the idea of the trellis and look forward to seeing it.
Angie,how interesting that the native Primula is capable of flowering most of the year in conditions as you describe.
You can’t go wrong with native Primula can you? I wonder just how much of a difference you will see in their flowering habits. I know here they will, if the weather is moist enough flower for most of the year.
What a difference loosing that hedge will make. It’s a big job and if it were me, I’d be paying someone too! Your trellis plans sound wonderful, of course I have to say that as I’ve just put up similar.