The 'First Rose' is one of our most popular plants, flowering early in the year and heralding the arrival of spring. It is a small native perennial with yellow flowers from February to May and sometimes even earlier during winter. Prefers a shady site.
Other Names:First Rose
Distribution/Habitat:This is the native Wild Primrose, which was once common in the wild throughout British woodlands, hedgerows and grassy places. It prefers a shady site where the soil doesn’t dry out. Description:One of our favourite native Spring flowers – and one of the earliest! It is a short plant with yellow flowers from February to May and sometimes even earlier during a mild winter. The flowers may not be pollinated as it blooms when few insects are about. Shakespeare wrote of ‘pale primroses that die unmarried’ in The Winter’s Tale.
Uses:The flowers were used in the preparation of love potions in the Middle Ages.
Wildlife:Night-flying insects do sometimes pollinate the flowers and it is a very valuable early food source for moths.
