Primrose

Primula - spring garden decoration. At us primroses usually name "primrose", because they blossom one of the first. Therefore, we are accustomed to consider them traditionally spring flowers, although this is not so. You can pick their different species so that the group of primroses will bloom in you almost all summer.

In terms of flowering, they are distributed as follows. The first spring blossom blossoms in late April-early May. From the rosette of wrinkled radical leaves, a nude flower spike 10-30 cm high, with a loose umbellate inflorescence on top, rises. In nature, the flowers of this plant are yellow, 1.5 cm in diameter. But there are many hybrid garden forms, including terry ones, the most diverse coloring. At the same time the primrose blossoms an ordinary. This is a beechless primrose. The flowers of her sit one at the ends of short, undeveloped flower stalks. But there are usually a lot of them, so they form a colorful pillow 10-12 cm high. The flowers are rather large( 2 - 3 cm in diameter), varied in color, more often yellow in all shades, crimson with a yellow eye. The most popular varieties are Virginia with white flowers and Ceruleus - with blue flowers. The early and early primrose flowers, on the flower stalks of which( at a height of 20 cm) there are several flowers at once. When crossing this species with primroses ordinary and unstable, many beautiful hybrids were obtained, among which the most popular are white Alba, golden Aureya, raspberry Gartenprimel, velvet-brown Goldrand, etc.

A primrose with a high primrose and a multicolored primrose with large inflorescences of 15-20flowers on a high peduncle( 40 cm).In mid-May, one of the most beautiful primroses blooms - the primula is finely toothed. It received its name for the jagged edges of the leaves, from the rosette of which on tall peduncles( 30-40 cm at the beginning of flowering and 50-60 cm after the end), globular inflorescences are composed of many small flowers of the most diverse color( from white and pink tolilac of different intensity and crimson).

Simultaneously blooms and a short, only 10-12 cm tall, primrose Julia, which has crimson flowers. There is a hybrid with white flowers, but the most beautiful is the mixture with the romantic name Romeo and Juliet, with pink and blue flowers. At the time of flowering, the primrose of Julia forms solid rugs and is very good on the Alpine hill. By the way, this is the most frost-hardy and unpretentious of primulas. A little later, the Ushkhovaya primrose blooms with unusual dense, smooth leaves of a gray-green color, which are slightly wrapped up, like the ears of some unknown animal. Flowers 3-4 cm in diameter are collected in umbrellas of 5-15 pieces. They have an unusual, round with the scalloped form, and a two-color pale color of purple-lilac tone of different shades. There is a very interesting hybrid of this primrose - primulae pubescent.

At the very end of May, the Japanese primrose of Zybold blooms - a low plant with light green leaves and tender pink, with a white asterisk in the middle of flowers collected in a loose umbrella. It has a feature. After bloom, the above-ground part disappears, and therefore, in order to not accidentally damage or trample the sleeping plant, it is necessary to mark the places of its planting.

In June and July, rare in our gardens are the primrose flowers of the Candelabra group, originating from Japan. On tall peduncles( 50 cm) in several tiers, inflorescences of bright purple flowers are located, the flowering of which begins from the lower tiers. There are garden forms with white, pink, lilac, cherry flowers. Among the candelabra primroses, I will note the primrose of Bis with purple-lilac flowers and the primrose Bull with cream-yellow and orange flowers, as well as their hybrid, the primrose of Bullesiana, with very beautiful coral flowers.

The last in the season blooms the primrose Florinda, home to which is Tibet. This rare in our primrose blooms from late July to mid-August. From the rosette of beautiful large leaves grows a long flower-spike( 70-80 cm), crowned with a very bright orange brush of bell-shaped fragrant flowers. Primrose Florinda looks great near the pond.

All primroses descended to us from the mountains of the alpine belt, so they have corresponding requirements to the habitat. They need calcium( so you should systematically make ash or lime, or even better - dolomite flour).In addition, they do not like too much oily soil( where there, in the mountains, the soil rich in humus!).Therefore, when planting under them, it is necessary to introduce the rotted compost in half with sand and the addition of ash. Naturally, they will not grow on clays, as well as on a peat bog. Primrose prefer semi-dark places and moderately moist soils. Particularly important is watering in the initial period of growth in spring and until the end of flowering. Abundant top dressing is not needed. If they feed too much, then, like all flowers, they will fatten, that is, give a large mass of greens and very few flowers. In spring, before flowering, calcium nitrate( 1 tablespoon without top to 10 liters of water) is most suitable, since it contains the calcium and nitrogen, which is loved by primroses, required for the growth of leaves. After flowering, to bookmark the flower buds of the next year, you should feed phosphorus and potassium( without chlorine) to 0.5 st.spoonfuls of each( or 1 tablespoon of finished phosphate-potassium fertilizer) per 10 liters of water. The primroses respond well to the application of any flower fertilizer, preferably containing no nitrogen. They consume both top-dressing for 10 m2 of planting. In autumn, under primrose, a little fresh compost should be poured, literally a handful under the bush.

In general, primroses refer to young adults, rather than perennials, so they should be planted every autumn( at most, in a year), carefully separating the new rosettes that appear at the end of summer, along with the roots. You can plant young plants near the mother plant. But you can not delay with the transplant, otherwise the rosettes will not have time to properly take root and they will be squeezed out of the soil by the first frost. August is the most suitable time for transplants. To plant them, too, is better in the Northwest in August, but if replanting from pots, it is better to do it in the beginning of summer, after frosts.

To reproduce the easiest way for young rosettes. But it is possible and seeds. Since the seeds are very small, they must be sown superficially or sown in the snow, as has been repeatedly said, at the end of February or beginning of March. There is a small nuance. After sowing, the pots and seedlings should be placed in the refrigerator for a few days and only after that put in a warm room, but not in direct sun. When there are shoots, put the scraps in a bag, exhale into it several times the air, tie up and put on light. Pour from a syringe through a needle stuck in the soil. When the seedlings grow, they must be carefully discarded on individual boxes or jars and grown to a bush with 5-6 real leaves, and then, after frosts, transplanted, first it is better to school to grow and only in August - to a permanent place. Primrose rather quickly grow, so provide them for this place( 20 x 20 cm).

There are no pests and diseases, so plants do not require special care or care. Sometimes primroses try to bloom repeatedly warm in autumn. This should not be allowed. It is necessary to pull out the buds as soon as they appear, otherwise the primroses may weaken and miss the spring flowering for the next year.

Basically primroses are low plants( from 10 to 50 cm), so they are used for curbs, rocky hills or planted in separate bright spots in the garden, mostly under trees or among other, later colors.