Plants of the Primrose species produce flowers that vary in color.
Some Primrose flowers are purple, some white, some yellow.
Nevertheless, these are the main types of Primrose flowers.
What Are The Different Primrose Flower Types?
The main Primrose plant lower classifications are:
Common Primrose (Primula vulgaris)
Primula vulgaris, commonly known as just primrose, is a semi-evergreen, rosette-forming perennial plant that blossoms into clusters of scented, pale yellow flowers.
You can expect to see them in the spring, and they typically grow in woodlands.
They are a natural nectar source for a number of insects, namely butterflies.
Cowslip (Primula veris)
Primula veris, the cowslip, common cowslip, or cowslip primrose, is a perennial that bears fragrant, creamy, sunny cup-shaped yellow flowers.
They are a very popular spring flower, most commonly observed in open woods, meadows, pastures, and by roadsides.
Bear’s Ear (Primula auricula)
Primula auricula or bear’s ear, is an evergreen perennial that forms a rosette of light green leaves with clusters of crimson-mahogany/purple-violet shaded to cream flowers adorned with shimmering golden/yellow centers.
Primula Vialii
Primula vialii is a very outlandish plant, with upright lilac-pink flowers that are poker-shaped, and red-tipped.
They blossom in the early to midsummer.
Drumstick Primrose (Primula denticulata)
Primula denticulata, also known as Drumstick Primula, is a stunningly pretty perennial with thick, rounded flowerheads.
Drumstick primrose can vary in colors, including lilac, purple, pink, blue or white.
Primula Elatior
Primula elatior, or the oxlip, is a semi-evergreen perennial that’s robust and grows easily.
It features one-sided clusters of gently yellow, yet fragrant flowers.
Japanese Primrose
Japanese Primrose, is a deciduous perennial with attractive whorls of flowers in shades of white, soft to deep pink, purple, or red.
This deciduous plant tends to grow to a height of 20 inches and the flowers routinely blossom in both the spring and summer months.
Primula Sieboldii
Primula sieboldii (Siebold Primrose) is a deciduous perennial that has slim stems that showcase purple, crimson, white, or pink flowers.
They grow just shy of 15 inches in height, again blossoming in the late spring and early summer.
Primula Beesiana
Primula beesiana, also commonly known as Candelabra Primrose, is a deciduous perennial that bears attractive pink or purple flowers.
These semi-evergreen plants blossom in the early months of summer.
They do particularly well when grown in groups and self-seed, so if you want to grow them be sure not to deadhead after flowering.
Tibetan Cowslip (Primula Florindae)
One of the biggest primula species, primula florindae is a long-lived perennial that blossoms into sweetly scented, fragrant, sunny golden flowers.
They can grow up to 1m.
Primula Rosea
Primula Rosea, the Himalayan meadow primrose, is a flowering plant that blooms bright pink colored flowers.
These herbaceous perennials grow little off the ground, as little as 7″.
Bull’s Eye Primrose (Primula bulleyana)
Primula bulleyana (Bull’s Eye Primrose), commonly known as Candelabra Primrose, is a semi-evergreen perennial with impressive golden-yellow flowers.
Primula Farinosa subsp. modesta
Primula Farinosa subsp. modesta is an alpine plant that grows naturally in the subalpine and alpine zones throughout Japan.
It bears 3-20 clusters of pale magenta flowers.
Primula Scotica
Primula scotica, commonly known as Scottish primrose is a compact, deciduous perennial with a small rosette of ovate, veined, white-mealy, grey-green leaves and an erect stem bearing clusters of yellow-eyed, purple to purple-pink flowers in late spring, often blooming again in midsummer.
Primula Alpicola
Primula alpicola, the moonlight primrose produces flaring bells of soft yellow, silvered violet, palest mauve, white, and raspberry pink very fragrant flowers.
Its a relatively compact plant, that peaks in the early summer. At that time you can expect packed clusters of fragrant, funnel-shaped flowers.
Siberian Primrose
Siberian Primose is a small perennial that possesses low rosettes of crinkled leaves and magenta-pink flowers that typically bloom during the spring.
Primula Deorum
Primula deorum, also known as Rila primrose, Rila cowslip, or God’s cowslip are native to Bulgaria.
They grow in their wild and native environments next to bodies of water, such as streams.
The flowers are red-purple and showcase asymmetrically above the leaves.
They are typically between 10-20 flowers when they blossom; forming in one-sided umbels on erect stems.
They are easy to plant but generally hard to care for.
Primula Lutea
Primula lutea is a species of primrose that produces clusters of bell-shaped yellow flowers that resemble those of Primula auricula.
They are a herbaceous semi-evergreen perennial that can be either solitary, formed into an umbel, or in whorls.
References
- Primula – https://pss.uvm.edu/pss123/perprimu.html
- Primula vulgaris
- https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PRIMU
- https://phys.org/news/2020-11-siberian-primrose-climate.html
Hey there – I’m Jesse, a professional florist, and gardening enthusiast. I created MyGardenFlowers to share all that I can about the flowers that I have planted and managed to grow in my garden.