Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Corydalis and primroses, 0 by rcn48

rcn48 wrote:
happy, for some unknown reason we've never had good luck with Primroses either. Haven't seen mickgene around here for awhile, but I remember she had photos of some gorgeous Primroses she had in her gardens and kudos plus for her - she started them from seed! Heck, I can't even get them to live when I plant a healthy, well-established plant. However, I'm trying again this year with two different Primroses.

Primula capitata http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/79922/ - lovely foliage on this one and even though Todd Boland describes it as "short-lived" I'm hopeful that it will at least live through the winter and self-seed. It's been blooming forever and is still sending out new stalks that will be blooming soon.

Primula x bulleesiana http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/159879/ - foliage is not as interesting as the P. capitata but pretty candelabra-type flowers. The ones I've planted have bloomed this year in shades of yellow/orange/apricot.

I haven't planted them in any particular soil, i.e. moist, I'm "testing" them in just our regular garden soil and keeping my fingers crossed.

As far as Corydalis goes, we've had some that have been successful - a few that have made a nuisance of themselves reseeding everywhere! Corydalis lutea http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/828/ self seeds throughout one of our beds but I just pull it up where I don't want it - the one below is growing under our deck!

Two others that have performed well for us are Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine' http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/61789/ - will not go summer dormant like others plus it's fragrant and if you give it "haircut" after blooming, the plant will perk up and rebloom. We don't bother with the other C. flexuosa cultivars like 'China Blue' or 'Blue Panda' - they just die in our gardens. If you want blue flowers, try Corydalis elata http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2192/. C. elata does not go dormant and has lovely foliage with a more upright habit and is bred to be more resistant to southern heat and humidity. We're trying another one this year - a sport of C. 'Blackberry Wine' called 'Berry Exciting' with lovely gold foliage http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/148107/ -looks like it does well in Dallas! Planted it in several locations throughout the garden and hoping it performs as well as its 'parent'.