It isn’t even May yet, and I’ve already impulse-shopped my first plant. I had some gaps in my perennial beds after the great daylily dividing event of last fall, so last weekend I went to the Flower Factory to get a couple of reliable, front-row perennials. As I was standing in the checkout line I noticed a flurry of activity in the shade plant area. Everyone was oooing and ahhhing over some plants with pretty lavender, rose or white flowers. I couldn’t resist taking a look. The next thing I knew this plant was in my wagon with the rest:
This is a Drumstick Primrose (Primula denticulata). These April and May-flowering plants like full or part-shade and moist conditions. There were no specific cultivar names, so I chose a “blue” selection.
The flowers are slightly fragrant and look a bit like tiny asters. I planted my primrose under our serviceberry shrub. It will eventually get shade once the serviceberry leafs out, but until then the plant is probably going to get a little more light than it wants. It’s near a birdbath, so I’m hoping that by splashing around in the bath the birds will help me keep the area around my primrose moist.
Drumstick Primroses grow about 12 inches tall and are hardy in Zones 3-9.