Primula malacoides

Japanese name: プリムラ マラコイデス
Scientific name: Primula malacoides

[Overview]
The wild species is a perennial 20–50 cm tall, found at high elevations of 1,800–3,000 m.
Because it is not heat tolerant, in Japan it is treated as an annual sown from summer to autumn.
The leaves are simple and basal, ovate, 3–10 cm long and 2–8 cm wide; the leaf margin is shallowly divided into 6–8 lobes, and the lobes are toothed.
The upper surface of the leaves has fine hairs, and the underside is covered with white powder.
The petiole is long.
The flowers are borne in umbels of 2–6 tiers; the corolla is 5-lobed, and each lobe is further divided into 2 at the tip.

[History]
It was collected by J. M. Delavay in 1884 and introduced to Europe, and many garden cultivars have been created since.
It arrived in Japan in the late Meiji period.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
The seeds need light to germinate, so do not cover them with soil; water from the bottom, and raise seeds sown in summer in well-ventilated partial shade until autumn.
It prefers fertile soil with good drainage and good water retention.
Small-flowered cultivars can overwinter outdoors if protected from cold wind and frost and kept from freezing.
Large-flowered cultivars are weak to cold and unsuited to planting in the ground, so grow them in pots and keep them in a sunny place indoors.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
In addition to basal fertilizer, apply liquid fertilizer during the flowering period so that the fertilizer does not run out.
Spent flowers left on the plant can cause disease, so remove them promptly.
When the flowers have almost finished blooming, cut off the flower stalks entirely, and the next flower stalks will grow.
Pests and diseases include damping-off, botrytis, soft rot, gray mold, armyworms, slugs, nematodes and root mites.

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