| The image really doesn't capture the color of these flowers, which is a pristine, creamy, shell pink - just a whiff of pink, really, but, to my eye, incredibly lovely. |
Some primroses bear their flowers singly on stems rising from the crown. Others produce a cluster of flowers in an umbel at the top of the flower stem. Candelabra primroses flower in whorls on stalks that can reach three feet (0.9 m) high, hence the name "candelabra".
Except for my original strain, all of mine are seed grown - from a mixed lot labeled Primula japonica. P. japonica, if happy, is a strong-growing perennial reaching eighteen inches high and wide (45 cm). It will grow in full sun or partial shade.
Most Primula are easy, warm germinators but some, including P. japonica require cold stratification. Seed does not have a long shelf life, and best results will be from fresh seed although P. japonica will give tolerable results from purchased packets. Seed stored for more than a year is probably dead. It's dust fine and should be surface sown since they require light for germination.
Flowering begins in early May in my garden, starting with a short stalk topped by a cluster of buds, almost buried in the huge leaves.
As the days pass, flowers open in a circle around the cluster of buds as the flower stalks lengthen. When one set of buds opens, another forms at the end of the flower stalk, extending the bloom period for a full month in my garden.
Colors vary considerably, ranging from white through pinks, reds, yellow and orange.
P. japonica species tend to be deep red with 'Miller's Crimson', a named form, said to be the finest.
P. j. 'Postford White' has a conspicuous orange-yellow central ring, with somewhat paler foliage than the species.
P. beesiana is rosy-carmine with a yellow eye, P. bulleyana is orange. Both of these were named for Mr. Bulley, founder of Bees' nursery in England, who was probably responsible for introducing more Asiatic Primula species than anyone else.
I've seen photographs of mixed stands incorporating all the colors successfully, but my taste leans more toward the pinks and reds with a touch of blue rather than yellows and oranges. I grew some P. bulleyana once from seed and was not terribly sad when they departed because the colors did not thrill me.
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