A welcome sign that Spring is on its way is the flowering of primroses, or to give them their slightly derogatory species name, primula vulgaris. The leaves look quite tough and hardy but the tissue paper thin petals are so delicate it is amazing how they withstand the cold and wet weather that is here now and will no doubt be with us for a few more weeks.

In my previous post I included a quote from Victorian gardener Gertrude Jekyll – here’s another one…

“More than half a century has passed, and yet each spring, when I wander into the primrose wood, I see the pale yellow blooms and smell their sweetest scent – for a moment I am seven years old again and wandering in that fragrant wood”. Gertrude Jekyll

with a Victorian theme, apparently Queen Victoria used to send primroses to prime minister Benjamin Disraeli as they were his favourite flowers.