Skip to main content
← All plants

Primula

Primula x polyantha
Also known as: Polyanthus, Polyanthus Primrose

Primula is a flower in the Primulaceae family. It grows best in part shade with medium moisture, and is listed for USDA zones 3-8. Plants reach maturity about 84–91 days after planting and sit about 6 inches apart.

Varieties

1 from True Leaf Market · sorted by days to maturity
  • ▸Supernova Mix84–91 days

    Non-GMO; Container; Perennial

    84-91 days maturity. Primula x polyantha. Primula Supernova Seeds. Non-GMO, perennial. Ornamental. Supernova primula seeds promise delicate and early Spring blooms to your garden when others can not. Supernova seeds grow vigorous, frost-hardy primulas that thrive in a wide range of cool and well-shaded North American gardens. Primula supernova seeds grow compact yet durable creeping mounds dazzling with 2 inch blooms in many colors that pop against the deep green foliage.

    View on True Leaf Market ↗
Family
Primulaceae
Category
Flower
Form
Bush
Lifecycle
perennial
Zone
3-8
Height
0.5–1 ft
Spread
0.6666666666666666–1 ft
Sun
Part shade

Plant spacing

4 plants per square footSquare-foot planting diagram: a 1-foot square divided into a 2-by-2 grid holding 4 primula plants spaced 6 inches apart.
4 plants per square foot

In a square-foot bed, space primula about 6 in apart — that fits 4 plants in each 1-foot square (2×2). Wider rows or containers space the same.

Water
Medium

Plan your primula planting

Add primula to a free GardenDraft plan and get sow, transplant, and harvest dates computed for your ZIP code — with a drag-and-drop bed layout and reminders when it’s time to plant.

Start your free plan →

At a glance

Days to harvest
84–91 days
From transplant or sow to first harvest
Harvest style
Harvest once
One main harvest
After harvest
Use within days
Quality eases off after peak
Frost tolerance
Hardy · to ~15°F
Lowest temperature the foliage usually survives
Germination
~55%
Typical minimum germination rate

Growing timeline

When to plant and harvest primulaPlanting timeline for primula, relative to last frost: start indoors from 14 weeks before last frost to 2 weeks before last frost; grow from 2 weeks before last frost to 10 weeks after last frost; harvest from 10 weeks after last frost to 11 weeks after last frost.Start indoorsGrowLast frostTransplant
Start primula indoors ~12 weeks before transplanting 2 weeks before last frost; first harvest 10 weeks after last frost.
Seed to transplant
70-84 days
Outdoor planting
-14 to 0 days vs frost
Propagation
Seed
Schedule anchor
Last Frost

Care & troubleshooting

No curated care & troubleshooting advice for primula yet. Our extension-sourced library currently focuses on common edible crops; we're expanding it over time.