I don't have a ton of experience with them, but I know they hate afternoon sun and heat and as a result they have trouble surviving U.S. summers. I would get them in the shade and keep them well-watered and see if you can get them through the summer. It is an uphill battle -- many treat them as cool-season annuals.

This is my first year with a Supernova. However, my other primroses died out last year in late spring or early summer, and two (out of four to six) came back this spring. My understanding is that they only like spring. They might come back for you. :)

hey kent ...

no luck with primrose... in my z5 ... most dying in summer ...

i would consider them... annuals ...

enjoy them for what they are.. at best a very short lived perennial ...

my experience was pre-WWWeb days ... and anything foo foo.. just died.. and after trying a dozen times or so.. i just gave up ... [one might wonder why it took 12 tries.. lol]

ken

Well, at least I didn't spend any money on them as they were a gift :) I'll do what I can, but I will treat them as an annual.

Thanks!

and by treating them as an annual .. all i mean.. is dont be heartbroken should they fail ....

with the web.. one would think you can find out how to make them thrive ...

and every time you look at them.. you can say.. there's one ken cant grow.. lol ... gotta have a goal ...

ken

I've done OK with a couple of types of primroses on the east side of buildings where they get 3 or 4 hours of morning sunlight. These plants are 4 or 5 years old.

babs ... what is your soil... i often wondered if my soil was too good.. and it was a root rot issue with ground freeze and all ...

in other words.. for the same reason i couldnt grow lavender.. the soil stayed too damp into late fall .. early winter ....

ken

I have never been able to provide the cool, damp yet free-draining soil which primulas love.....until now. Have made do with auriculas (and now have far too many) and cowslips. Gearing up for a massive seed collecting and sowing orgy of primrose collecting (and may even have to BUY a few plants, yikes) ......bulleyana, beesianum, sieboldii, secundiflora, japonica......OMG, a woodland!

there is your key kent:

never been able to provide the cool, damp yet free-draining soil which primulas love

and cool is the key word in my estimate ...

good luck

ken

nhbabs, those look very happy. Your primroses are Primula denticulata, a definite hardy perennial, which enjoys slightly different conditions to the hybrids of P vulgaris including tolerance of acidity and colder winters.

I had a quick look for 'Supernova' and they appear to be Polyanthus-type Primulas which are early spring bloomers even here and are going over by May. The site I found classified them culturally as annuals.

Thanks for clarifying that, Flora. I probably should have actually looked to see exactly what Kent had.

Ken, my soil in most of my beds is well aged manure spread on top of my native acid fine sandy loam. It makes the perfect moist, well-drained beds. I mulch with hardwood shavings.