Our primroses are out. In fact, some of them have been flowering since Christmas. So I thought that I would pick some for a vase today.
Although I love the wild yellow primroses, I seem to be good at propagating pink offspring for some reason. Whilst it is true that I have bought a few other colours over the years, I know that at least some of these pink variants are due to a genetic mutation rather than being cultivated garden hybrids.
I have lovely memories of the classic yellow wild primroses from childhood. My mother would take my sister and me on springtime picnics to the nearby woods and one of the things that I remember most about these adventures (apart from the inconvenient bus journey) was enjoying our feasts on the banks of yellow primroses that we would find there.
When we moved into our current home, after clearing the front garden of the bramble, privet and ground elder thriving there, a kind neighbour brought over a couple of bags of wild primroses that she had dug up from her own garden to get us started. In amongst all the yellows though, there was a strange pale pink version.
Over the years those primroses have seeded around and I now have a pretty spring collection at the front and back, with almost as many pinks as yellows.
So here is my cheerful primrose posey:
The primroses smell delicious too, which is why the vase is sitting right next to my laptop.
I am joining in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly In-a-vase-on-Monday meme. She has a lovely theme today which also is a bit retrospective (and you might notice a similar flower).
Frogend dweller's Blog 
Oh that’s lovely – and all the shades have come from a close relationship between the natives and the pale pink one? Nature is so fascinating – and I don’t think I realised they were fragrant! Think of all the things we miss out on if we don’t used all our senses all the time… Thanks for sharing
I was trying to re-create a yellow primrose bank at the back of the garden, so this strong tendency to pink mutation has been a bit of a pain. They really have a lovely smell, floral but not too sweet.
Yes, I can see that would be a shame – so far mine don’t seem to have done any cross-pollinating
Those are so pretty, the epitome of a spring flower!
Yes, when you begin to see banks of them you know that spring is rushing our way
Beautiful and interesting to read about the pink ones.
They are all lovely. I can’t believe that I used to try to isolate the pinks!
Beautiful colors – I like seeing them all lined up! I wish mine would self-sow, but so far that hasn’t happened.
Thanks. We used to have a gravel path at the front which acted as a nursery bed. I drove my husband nuts by insisting that all weeds were hand removed from it (not hoed), so that I could transfer the seedling primroses to the wild area at the back.
It paid off!
I love primroses. The idea of having them self-seed is a dream. Sadly, with unseasonably warm temperatures and low rain levels, I didn’t even plant any this year. Yours are beautiful!
Thanks. Yes, the weather this year has wrong-footed us all. I didn’t plant various bulbs last year because the summer plants flowered for so long and now I will miss them!
Love them!
What a lovely bunch..and such variety I love the one with a pale edging around the petals. Lucky you for not having any nibbled by slugs or snails. Mine are under attack!
Yes, they have a bit of a tendency to lacecap patterns. My plants are under attack, but they are so numerous that I am lucky enough to be able to gather some whole.
Gorgeous. I too have early memories of picnics surrounded by primroses in the fields near home.
How wonderful our parents were and how lucky we were that the wild places existed!
Beautiful clear colours, spring with a very happy face. Lovely that they are fragrant too!
Yes they have a delightful smell and I like the colour so much half the house is painted primrose yellow!
Your garden must be a beautiful sea of colour if these pretty flowers are anything to go by.
Thanks. The front garden is at its best in spring, before the field maple comes into leaf.
What a lovely spring posy. We all love the wild primroses best, but I love your pink ones too. I love all primroses. The gorgeous Barnhavens and the old fashioned doubles too. They are the great delight of the spring garden. Now all we need is some spring weather to go with them.
We’ve had some sunny starts to days here, before the weather closes in and gets depressing. Barnhavens are such glorious colours, I can’t help experimenting with the orange tones and now I am trying to decide whether to get a few lacecap primroses for the patio. Some days I like them more than others!
Pink and yellow go well together, so it’s nice you now have a mix of them The yellow ones do bring back memories for me too though!
Yes and the fun thing about the mixing is that it manifests through different patterns appearing more than colour
Now I am thinking of picking some out of the garden and making crystallised primroses.
How wonderful. That makes me think of simnel cake. Good luck with that.