Who doesn’t love a cheery little flower? A little flower that will brighten your day and even make you smile. We are surrounded by such flowers in summertime but they are scarce enough in the dark, dull and dreary days of winter. Well there’s nothing dull or dreary about polyanthus and primulas.

While primroses are known for their pale buttery shades of yellow, primulas and polyanthus come at you in most shades of the rainbow

I’m no expert on plant geneology but primulas produce a cluster of flowers on top of the plant and each individual flower is on a separate stem. In contrast, polyanthus has several flowers on the main stem and they produce several main stems on the plant.

Primulas are cultivated cousins of primroses and – dare I say it – are much better dressed than their cousins. While primroses are known for their pale buttery shades of yellow, primulas and polyanthus come at you in most shades of the rainbow.

Polyanthus will light up a dreary day.

Anytime from now on, good garden centres will have trays of polyanthus and primulas for sale. They are hard to resist as the bright flowers peep out from a nest of glossy green foliage. Don’t resist and take a six pack home for planting in pots or strategically where you can see them from your kitchen window.

About 10 years ago I planted 20 polyanthus of various hues along the front of a flower border. They flowered for months on end. Then a few years ago I had to abandon this flowerbed and only came back to it last spring. I couldn’t believe my eyes when beneath piles of dead growth, the faithful little polyanthus survived. And not just one, but nearly all of them.

I find they like damp humus ground and they work well in half shade. They are very easy to propagate by division. Be sure to pick off any damaged foliage and deadhead regularly. You will be rewarded with lots of flowers to cheer up the dullest days of winter.