Native Cowslip - Primula veris – is a familiar and popular plant, useful for creating a spring flowering meadow. The nodding yellow flowers of the native British variety appear on short stems in April and look delightful blowing in a spring breeze. Flowering is just before the start of the season’s main grass growth, which make cowslips particularly suitable for a flowering lawn. Native Cowslips will grow in sunlight or semi-shade and are suitable for open woods, orchards and road verges. They have a preference for chalk and limestone but will tolerate a wide range of other soils. Cowslips produce a strong scent and will attract bees. In the wild Cowslips are a host plant to to the Duke of Burgundy butterfly that will lay its eggs on the plant. They look best growing alongside other spring flowering plants, such as Red Campion, Lawn Daisy, Bluebells and Greater Stitchwort.
COWSLIP Seeds
Sow native Cowslip seeds in autumn either outside where they are to flower, or in seed trays and cover lightly with compost. The seed will require a period of cold weather before germinating. Sometimes this is referred to as stratification or vernalisation and for this reason it is essential that the seeds are left outside over winter to expose them to the cold. Cowslip seeds should germinate the following spring. Seedlings can be pricked out and grown on, for planting out later in the year. Once established cowslips will self seed quite readily given the right conditions
type - perennial, colour - Yellow,
height - 0 to 25cms, flowers April, May,
habitat - Semi-Shade (Orchards, Hedgerow, Banks, Open Woodland), Moist Grassland (Clay, Loams), Dry Grassland (clay, loam), Very dry Sandy Soil, Chalk and Limestone Grassland,
Caterpillar Food Plant, Attracts Butterflies