Primula malacoides (Mo)

RHS Plant Profile
baby primrose

Save a plant

Where do you want to save Primula malacoides (Mo)?

Plants I own
Wishlist
Go to My Plants

Other common names

fairy primrose

Award of Garden Merit
Annual Biennial Conservatory Greenhouse Houseplants
Buy this from Plant Nurseries
1 Suppliers

An erect, rosette-forming evergreen perennial, often grown as an annual, with frilly-margined, downy leaves to 10cm long. In winter and spring, single or double flowers in shades of purple, pink or white are borne in whorls of decreasing size up slender stems to 45cm. Grow in a cool or temperate greenhouse, or as a houseplant

Position

Full sun, Partial shade

Soil Types

Loam

Max Height

0.1-0.5 metres

Max Spread

0.1-0.5 metres

Size

Time to Maturity
1–2 years
Max Spread
0.1-0.5 metres
Max Height
0.1-0.5 metres

Growing Conditions

Loam
Moisture
Moist but well–drained
pH
Acid or Neutral or Alkaline

Position

Full sun Partial shade
Aspect
South–facing or West–facing or East–facing
Exposure
Sheltered
Hardiness

Hardiness Ratings

All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

  • H1A: under glass all year (>15C)
  • H1B: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
  • H1C: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
  • H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
  • H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
  • H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
  • H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
  • H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
  • H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)
H2

Colour & Scent

Season Stem Flower Foliage Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Botanical Details

Family
Primulaceae
Native to GB/Ireland
No
Foliage
Evergreen
Habit
Columnar upright
Genus
Primula are herbaceous or semi-evergreen perennials, forming a basal rosette of simple leaves, with salver-shaped or bell-shaped flowers which may be solitary or carried in an umbel or in whorls on an erect stem
Name Status
Correct
Horticultural Group

Horticultural Classification Codes

Horticultural Classification Codes are often given to genera which have a large number of species or cultivars. They are used to categorise cultivated plants based on specific, shared characteristics such as shape, colour, size or flowering time, and can be displayed as letters or numbers

For example:
Dahlia ‘Sunset Kate (Sin) = Single flower
Rosa ‘Marigold’ (HT) = Hybrid Tea

Monocarpicae primulas flower once then die. To ensure these primulas return, the seed has to be collected and sown
Plant Range
China

How to Grow

Cultivation

Grow on plants in a potting mix of 4 parts peat-free, loam-based compost and 1 part each grit and leaf mould. Position in bright, filtered light in a cool room and mist plants daily

Propagation

Propagate by seed sown in summer for flowering plants the following winter. Surface sow onto moist, well-drained seed compost

Suggested planting locations and garden types

  • Houseplants
  • Conservatory and greenhouse

Pruning

Deadhead to extend flowering

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids

Diseases

May be susceptible to grey moulds (botrytis)