| Three shades of dark pink-red have shown up. This is the darkest; a very intense magenta pink with a darker eye. |
| This one is rather pretty, a medium pink with a large dark eye. |
| Least favorite is a rather more brickish pink than this image shows. I like it better in the image than in real life, where it clashes with the bluish reds and pinks of its neighbors. The lowest whorl of flowers on this plant has faded and you can see the developing seed pods at the base of the finished blooms. |
An odd duck; obviously a cross between the white and one of the reds, who can't make up its mind which color to be. The pink staining is irregular and varies in each bloom.
Drumstick Primulas
Primula denticulata are a separate section. They are moisture lovers from the mountains of Asia. Having lost several of these in garden borders over the years, I decided to try them in the damp garden to see what happened - they seem to like it. My current lot are seed grown and the typical lavender color.
These are quite early, blooming a good two weeks or more before the candelabras. They are also smaller in all their parts, with more oblong oval leaves with a more leathery texture than the candelabras.
You'll note that the flower head is a circle of opened blossoms, unlike the candelabras who always have a bud or two at the top. Of the primroses in my damp garden, this is also the only one who the deer have denuded of flowers. This may have been an aberration this year as I don't recall deer ever eating any primroses before.
While most primroses can be propagated by division, either as growth commences in spring or after bloom, or seed, some, including most candelabras and the drumstick primrose can also be increased by root cuttings. I have not tried this, but have read that young, vigorous roots, of decent size, detached from the parent plant during the dormant period will root. Lift the plant, select and remove the roots, cut them into lengths of about one and a quarter inches (3 cm) long and lay horizontally in trays of an equal mix of peat and sharp sand. Lightly cover them with the same mix, water and place in a cold frame where they should sprout in spring. Once each little plant has a good root system, it can be potted on individually.
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