There is no more beautiful flower than a wild primrose – of that I am quite certain! This year they have been particularly good. They started in flower in the lanes very early in the year when the weather was miserable and everything else was dull and dismal, except for the fresh flowers of the primroses. And now as the greenery of Spring is really getting going the wild primroses are still in flower. In the garden the double primroses tend to start a little later than the wild primroses and as we move into April they are looking superb.

I have been finding myself thinking about which are the best and most reliable – but to be honest the list is long. It is key to have the right conditions, of course. They do need damp ground – no lack of that here! But with the right conditions they really are superb plants. ‘Marianne Davey’, an old Barnhaven variety is an extremely good plant with all the freshness of Spring.

For long flowering there are several excellent choices – ‘Sunshine Suzie’ who starts flowering in December and goes on and on. A really bright yellow flower that fades into tinges of apricot; she cheers up the Winter months.

‘Petticoat’, a white double. The flower is smallish but she flowers and flowers. I have used ‘Petticoat’ this year to edge flower bed beside a path. The bed has a lot of the snowdrop ‘S. Arnott’ and I thought this would be a good addition.

Another long-flowering and beautiful double primrose is ‘Easter Bonnet’. Similar in shade to the very old and lovely ‘Quakers’ Bonnet’, this has far more flowers and keeps up its show for months on end.