Primroses: Labels Can Be Deceiving
May 5th, 2006 by Kathy Purdy · 1 Comment
Just read a very informative post by Don over at An Iowa Garden. He describes the hybrid primroses that grow well in his garden, what species they’re descended from, and how they’re labeled–and mislabeled–in the trade. The only thing he didn’t include was the name of merchants who sell accurately labelled plants. Maybe he doesn’t know any. Maybe it’s a big crapshoot. But at least if you know it’s a crapshoot you’re more willing to be surprised.
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About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. •
USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural;
Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian
Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level:
intermediate
• Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY
native plants, gardening with/for children
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1 response so far ↓
1
Judith
// May 5, 2006 at 10:42 am
Two things I can add–the cute little primroses for .99 in the grocery store in February aren’t hardy (perhaps occasionally, accidentally)–they’re bred as he says, just for early bloom.
As to suppliers-well, if they’re like me and grow them on themselves before selling, they know if the plants are hardy–but not necessarily if they’re labeled correctly (sometimes seed comes to me labeled as X and turns out to be Q, or some hybrid of X; if I’ve never seen or heard of X before and can’t find any references, X it is to me).
Large companies usually aren’t growing things on in a test garden the way smaller ones do, they simply don’t have the room–or the focus–to do so. They will be labeling as seeds/cuttings/divisions came to them, and so be labeled as correctly as they can. The only way you can be (more) sure is to err on the side of caution–more description, full Latin name, talk to the supplier if you can, etc.
With primulas, the best education you can get is to join a primula society &/or the North American Rock Garden Society, where you will be able to purchase seed by species. Of course…that seed will have been donated by other gardeners, with the uncertainty in labeling mistakes and bee hybridization that entails, but you’ll likely get wonderful things.
And it’s still a gamble. Some things that “should” be hardy for me aren’t, and some that “shouldn’t”, are. So his method of just growing a lot and seeing what stays, is perfectly valid.