A Brief History of Primroses

One of the earliest records of primroses is from 1597, when they were included in a book titled: ‘The herball: or, Generall historie of plantes’. A Swedish botanist first pronounced in 1753 that they belonged to the primula genus.

Native to Europe, primroses were rumoured to be Shakespeare’s favourite flower since he featured them in so many of his plays. During the Middle Ages, primroses were used to make love potions. They have a long history of being associated with fairies, and were nicknamed ‘fairy cups’. In English folklore, people believed that if you ate a primrose, you would see a fairy. It was also believed that leaving primroses on your doorstep would make fairies bless your house, and putting them in a cowshed would stop them taking the milk for themselves. In Ireland primroses were used to help ward off evil spirits.

The primrose is one of the first flowers to bloom in spring. Its name comes from the Latin word ‘primus’, which means ‘first’. So it came to have a meaning of youth, renewal and optimism. In the Victorian era, when floriography was popular and everyone passed secret messages to each other through flowers, it was thought that giving someone a primrose was a sign of young love. Pink primroses, like those in my blip, have a meaning of femininity, grace, youth and renewal.

Here are some fun facts about primroses -

* They are the second favourite flower in Britain (just behind bluebells).
* Primrose became popular as a girl’s name in 2015, with new parents inspired by the character of that name in ‘The Hunger Games’.
* The bulbs can be poisonous to animals, so make sure you plant them where cats or dogs can’t get to them.
* In the UK, the 19th of April is known as Primrose Day.
* There are around 500-600 Primrose species.
* They taste like lettuce.


(Abridged from information found on the Bloom&Wild website)