Friday, December 09, 2005
Primula vulgaris ssp. sibthorpii
The primrose derives it's name from the latin, primus (thus, first rose), and of these early bloomers, the earliest of all for me is Primula vulgaris subspecies (ssp.) sibthorpii, a brethren of the common (Primula vulgaris) yellow wildflower of the English countryside and cottage garden. Sibthorpii is native to the eastern Balkans, and its color palette of pink-lavender-red, has been combined with the yellow-white palette of the English Primula vulgaris, to produce a wider spectrum of colors. I am infatuated with sibthorpii for three reasons: it's early bloom (the above picture was taken in early March this last spring, with patches of snow still on the ground), its hardy vigor, and the delicate appearance of its flowers, which look much more like a proper woodlands wildflower (which it is) rather than like a hothouse transplant, like many of the commercial vulgaris (more properly, X vulgaris) hybrids. Sibthorpii spreads into quite a patch (though it likes to be divided every few years, a job I seldom quite get around to). It is absolutely rock hardy here, surviving 20 below zero with a little leaf mulch, and tolerates our hot, dry summers better than most of its finicky cousins.
// posted by IBOY @ 9:31 AM 
