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While there is a growing assortment of plants in my damp garden bed, the primary objective in building this garden was to find a suitable home for my beloved and beleaguered candelabra primroses.
There are about four hundred twenty-five known species of primrose, ranging from tiny high alpine plants for the rock garden to the large candelabra types. More than two hundred species are in cultivation and new ones are still being discovered. Thousands of hybrids are grown in gardens and have been for hundreds of years. Most species come from China and the Far East, with Europe and North America adding smaller numbers of native species. There's a primrose for just about any growing condition for those who live in cool climates. Most primroses come from high elevations and don't adapt too well to hot, humid summer areas. They are generally hardy from USDA zones 4 to 8, doing better in the maritime zone 8 of the PNW than in the hot and humid zone 8 of the east coast. I have a relatively limited list that I've been able to coerce into staying in my garden. Of these, only one seems indestructible. I love all of them, but my first love is the candelabra primroses. Candelabra Primroses The genus is classified into (currently) thirty-seven sections containing species that are similar in characteristics or growing requirements. For years, there was a candelabra section, now called Proliferae. In my mind, they will always be "candelabras". This is the plant that moved me to create my damp garden. It's been around for so long that its name and origin are lost in the mists of time. Research indicates that it might be one of the well-known 'Harlow Car' hybrids, since it does have a prominent yellow eye, which is characteristic of these complex hybrids, but that's only a wild guess. For years, the only place it existed was in the middle of a path in the back corner of my old vegetable garden...a place not often visited. Periodically, a few would be dug and moved to a bed or border where they could be seen and enjoyed, only to have them fade away and disappear in a season or two, despite copious watering in our hot, dry summers. It finally came home to me that these are really bog plants who require constant deep moisture to be happy.
The copyright of the article Plants For The Damp Garden - Primulas in Shade Gardening is owned by . Permission to republish Plants For The Damp Garden - Primulas in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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