I need help. It was a beautiful warm spring day. I cleared my flower beds of winter accumulation. All 10 of my primroses are blooming beautifully. Now the weather report is 1-6 inches of snow and below freezing temps. How can I protect my primroses since I removed the winter protection?
I have heard that watering potted plants before a freeze prevents root damage but since we don't get that much freezing weather or snow I am not sure if that is recommended for in the ground plants. Use any old flower pots, buckets, whatever to cover them with and if possible lay an old blanket over the whole thing. My primrose made it thru a one day coating of ice a month or so ago but that's all they had to put up with. Maybe one of the more northern forum members will have some better info for you.
I would just try covering them with other pots or foam ice chests or straw or just old blankets if you provide a support so the blankets don't smother them. I had primrose back in Wisconsin and they came through a spring snow just fine if it was not a heavy wet snow. You don't know beforehand just what the snow will be though. dooley
Thanks for the help. I covered them with old towels and weighted them down on the edges. We've already had a short spell of rain with sleet so I guess we'll be getting our storm early. Now the life of my primrose lies in the hands of God and Mother Nature.
primroses My primroses survived the cold spell and now look really great. At this time I can't put pics online but I wish I could. I'd like to share their beauty with everyone.
I do absolutely nothing with my primroses (they're outside all year round) and the temperatures here reach as low as -10C. They make look delicate but they're actually hardy little plants and the cold doesn't seem to affect them. :-D I'm glad yours have survived and are still looking healthy. Have a look here as you should be able to get all the help you need to post photographs on the forums. http://www.gardenstew.com/about4115.html
I'm with Eileen. Mine are out in the garden all year round and have had thick layers of snow, and really mean ground frosts smothering them this year, and I do believe they are flowering better than I have ever seen them before. Some were in full bloom when we had our second piling of snow, and the little flowers poked through, glowing as the snow thawed. Tough as old boots I would say.
Primroses are tough, little things. We grow them here, and with our unstable spring weather they still bloom and prosper through frosts, rain, snow and sun. Actually they don't like too much sun and heat.