General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Partial Shade to Full Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F)
Plant Height: 10 inches
Plant Spread: 10 inches
Leaves: Evergreen
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Yellow
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Spring
Underground structures: Rhizome
Edible Parts: Leaves
Flowers
Eating Methods: Culinary Herb/Spice
Raw
Cooked
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Propagation: Other methods: Division
Pollinators: Moths and Butterflies
Bumblebees
Bees

Image
Common names
  • Cowslip
  • Palsywort
  • Culver Keys
  • Primrose

Photo Gallery
Location: Latvia
Date: May 4, 2008
photo by Alvals via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.
Location: Illinois, US
Date: 2019-05-21
Location: Northern New Jersey
Date: 2018-05-06
Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Location: Russia, Krasnodarskij Kraj
Date: 2020-04-04
Location: Northern New Jersey
Date: 2018-05-06
Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Location: Russia, Krasnodar region, Novokubansk
Date: 2022-06-30
Location: My North Yorkshire Garden
Date: 2020-04-10

Date: 2018-05-15
Location: Northern New Jersey
Date: 2018-05-06
Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Location: Aurora, On
Date: 2011-05-18
Attractive
Uploaded by SongofJoy
Location: My garden
Date: 2017-04-30
Location: Aquitania (France)
Date: 2011-04-08
Location: Near Ashwell, UK
Image by Spencer C. H. Barrett, University of Toronto
Location: IL
Date: 2017-05-15
Location: KALAMA WA 
Date: 2021-04-28
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
2022-05-20
Location: My own garden
Date: 2018-05-12

 Photo Courtesy of Select Seeds. Used with permission.
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Botanical garden of Barcelona (Spain)
Date: 2022-04-23
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Date: 2021-05-09
Cowslip (Primula veris).
Location: My Garden
Date: 2013-06-07
Location: My Garden
Date: 2013-06-08
Location: IL
Date: 2017-05-15
Location: Hortus Camera Lapidea 
Date: 2023-04-25
Location: My garden in Belgium
Date: 2011-04-30

Photo courtesy of Annie's Annuals and Perennials
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Aurora, On
Date: 2016-05-22
Location: Kamloops, BC, Canada
Date: 2013-04-12
Location: CZ Sirem My garden
Date: 4000-06-26
Location: Stockholm County, Sweden
Date: 2016-05-21
Red cowslip growing wild in my home garden
Location: My garden in Belgium
Date: 2009-05-11
Location: My garden in Belgium
Date: 2011-04-30
Uploaded by SongofJoy
Location: z5a, Smith College Botanical Garden
Date: 2012-04-19

Photo courtesy of Annie's Annuals and Perennials
  • Uploaded by Joy

Courtesy Gardens in the Wood of Grassy Creek
  • Uploaded by vic
Location: Aurora, On
Date: 2016-05-18
A Siberian form of cowslip, raised from seed by David Tomlinson a
Location: garden of botanist Robert R. Kowal in Madison, Wisconsin
Date: April 29, 2012
photo by James Steakley
Location: Cedarhome, Washington
Location: Aquitania (France)
Date: 2011-04-08
Location: Aquitania (France)
Date: 2011-04-09

Photo Courtesy of Lazy S'S Farm Nursery.
  • Uploaded by Joy

Photo Courtesy of Lazy S'S Farm Nursery.
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: Hampshire, England.
Date: 2012-03-25
Cowslip.
This plant is tagged in:
Image Image

Comments:
  • Posted by gardengus (Indiana Zone 5b) on Jun 23, 2013 5:15 PM concerning plant:
    I have very successfully winter sown these plants and about half the time they will bloom the first year.
    I have not been as successful in keeping them in my garden. I think the summers are just too hot here.
    A very nice addition to the spring flowerbeds. Adds bright color at the base of early bulbs.
  • Posted by SunnyBorders (Aurora, Ontario - Zone 5b) on Apr 18, 2013 8:15 PM concerning plant:
    Cheerful spring plant.
  • Posted by Sharon (Calvert City, KY - Zone 7a) on Nov 16, 2011 1:36 AM concerning plant:
    Cowslip grows in dry meadows and along roadsides. It's native to Eurasia, but is now a common escapee from gardens in temperate North America.

    It's a perennial herb with long oval hairy leaves that form a basal rosette. It has yellow flowers in spring and they are marked with orange dots. They grow in hanging clusters on top of an unbranched leafless stalk.

    In the past our ancestors used Cowslip for many purposes, some are still used by herbalists today: an expectorant, a mild painkiller, a diuretic and a laxative. Others have used it as a skin cleanser. None of these uses have been verified scientifically.
Plant Events from our members
MrsBinWY On July 9, 2021 Potted up
2 rather weak and sickly plants. Put them in the house in case the summer heat isn't to their liking.
MrsBinWY On April 18, 2021 Potted up
potted up the 1 that appeared on 4-9-21 & put the container outside for a bit of a chill
MrsBinWY On April 9, 2021 Seeds germinated
1
MrsBinWY On March 13, 2021 Seeds sown
16 seeds from Joyce (from Select Seeds for 2021) in milk jug - try couple weeks at room temp first (based on 2017 experience) & move to cold if necessary
MrsBinWY On June 10, 2017 Potted up
5
MrsBinWY On March 18, 2017 Seeds germinated
seeds were germinating on the coffee filter; put in milk jug 3-24, ~1/2 already germinated, broke one when putting it in potting mix
MrsBinWY On March 10, 2017 Seeds sown
per TC: 2-4 weeks at 64-71 degrees, 4-6 weeks at 24-39 degrees, germinate at 41-53 degrees, coffee filter in baggie, H2O2, 16 seeds from molanic
dnrevel On May 19, 2022 Transplanted
Planted 3 near white Dogwood tree. Shade garden.
dnrevel On May 13, 2022 Obtained plant
Bought from local vendor, Coleman's. Purchased 6.
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