This April, London’s green spaces come alive with the delicate beauty of primroses and cowslips. From the historic Primrose Day celebrations at Westminster Abbey to the apricot-scented oxlips of the countryside, these flowers are a symbol of spring’s renewal. Did you know primroses were Queen Victoria’s favourite, or that cowslips once covered the North Downs like a golden carpet? Join us on 19 April as we explore the charm and history of these springtime blooms. Don’t miss this floral journey through London’s past and present!
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Primroses
Primroses, the ‘first roses of the year’ are very much April flowers and are now at their most abundant. Although widely distributed, there are no great primrose woods in London as there used to be. This may be due to over-picking, but elsewhere picking is thought to have had little effect on numbers. They like wetter, not too shady, positions and this may be a more important factor in their disappearance. Woods and grassy banks are good places to look for primroses, although, due to their striking appearance, they are usually first noticed on roadsides. To see them in any numbers in a woodland setting, a visit as far away from London as Wallis Wood in Surrey is now necessary although they do still occur in woods near Downe e.g. Cudham Frith, Blackbush Shaw and Newyear’s Wood.
Today is Primrose Day and is named in commemoration of Benjamin Disraeli, Queen Victoria’s prime minister. The primrose was his favourite flower and can still be seen in abundance around his home, Hughendon Manor in the Chilterns. On this day each year bunches of primroses are laid by his statue in front of Westminster Abbey. They are still common in old churchyards, perhaps due to the Victorian custom of planting them on children’s graves e.g. St Katherine’s at Gatton. There are many sports e.g. different colours, doubles, umbellate forms, jacks-in-the-green and hose-in-hose. Gardens are the best place to look for these oddities, although many were originally found in the wild. A rhubarb and custard coloured form is still common enough.
Cowslips
Cowslips prefer more open areas than primroses. Gone are the days when the North Downs were grazed by sheep and the entire panorama was covered in cowslips, although this still can be seen on the South Downs near Beachy Head and on occasion in some parts of Farthing Down. Records indicate they were once as common as buttercups, but a major decline occurred in the middle of last century. Within each flower, at the base of each petal, is a red or orange spot called the ‘freckle’. This has led gardeners to produce both orange and red forms, which are now popular garden plants.
The Elizabethans were also fond of their cowslips and grew an interesting form of jack-in-the-green called the Franticke or foolish cowslip. This had what looked like pieces of flower and leaf set at the top of a stalk. Cowslips are now more often noticed on motorway verges. When they are crossed with a primrose, an oxlip is produced. To enjoy the famous apricot scent of oxlips, you have to leave London and visit the nearest woods where they grow wild in Cambridgeshire.
