Primula sieboldii is often called "the beginner's primrose"; it is one of the very hardiest, most adaptable of all of the garden primulas. It is native to Eastern Asia; Korea, Manchuria, Siberia and Japan... in Japan it is a very popular pot plant, called Sakurasoo (also spelled here "Sakurasoh"), which apparently just means Japanese primrose. Many subtle varieties are available there, often at breathtaking prices. Quite a few varities can also be obtained in this country, at modest, to borderline breathtaking prices... the inexpensive ones are just fine. Sieboldii would prefer a moist, peaty soil, but does just fine in rather loose ordinary garden soil. It has been reported to tolerate very low winter temperatures in Alaska, and tolerates our hot, humid summers here in Iowa. In late summer here, it goes dormant, which accounts for its heat tolerance. It's foliage breaks dormancy rather late in the spring, so it doesn't get damaged by late freezes, and it usually blooms here around mid-April. I absolutely adore it's very crisp, scalloped, foliage, which always looks good because of its mentioned lateness in breaking dormancy. The flowers are white to pink to bluish-pink, somewhat reminscent of snowflakes, and often with contrasting colors on the front and back of the petals; i.e., pink on the front, white on the back. Some of the selected clones have very fimbriated petals, so the snowflake appearance is even more prominent. If you want to try one primrose, and you're not sure you can grow them, try sieboldii: if you succeed, try some of the other hardy types... if you can't grow sieboldii, you can't grow primroses.
