I was slightly surprised to see Primrose on Plantlife’s list of flowers it is OK to pick – I’m not sure why really because this is the third (out of three so far) of the ‘Plantlife 12 pickable species’ that I get in my garden! But I’ve always put Primroses on a bit of a mental pedestal. Nobody, however soulless could call the Primrose a weed after all!
Primrose = prima rosa = first rose? Really? I’m an admittedly poor botanist but…really?
Did you ‘do’ Primroses at school in biology? Pin and Thrum? Rings a very faint bell somewhere at the back of my brain. The five Primrose plants I can find still in my garden all appear to be thrum.
April 19th is ‘Primrose day’ – sorry, we’ve missed it for another year. This date is the anniversary of the death of Benjamin Disraeli and the Primrose was his favourite flower – that’s very Conservative of him, isn’t it? Queen Victoria supposedly sent him bunches regularly and to this day Primroses are laid at his statue by Westminster Abbey on this date.
Primroses supply nectar, whether they like it or not (but they probably do), to a range of insects including the most spring-emblematic of butterflies, the Brimstone, and flying noses (You know – Flying Noses!).
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The primrose should remain untainted by an association with the Tory party that it can hardly be said to bear any responsibility for! It is a lovely flower – Disraeli was right on that – and a very welcome sight on woodland floors after the drabness of late winter.
Carmarthenshire is covered in primroses. And cuckoo flower. And ramsons.