Cowslip - Primula veris

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Cowslip - Primula veris
© Dr Chris Gibson/English Nature

Cowslips have clusters of yellow, nodding flowers, borne on tall stems above a rosette of oval, wrinkled leaves. They grow in meadows, on downland or in open woodlands in moist, but well-drained soil. Allow them to naturalise in a lawn or meadow by leaving the flowerheads on the plant and not mowing them until late June. Like primroses, cowslip seedlings can be pricked out of lawns whey are very tiny and grown on in pots.

Cowslips declined in the last century due to changes in farming practice, but they are now - thankfully - staging something of a recovery and becoming an increasingly common sight. They have reappeared especially along motorways and other roadsides, often as part of amenity planting schemes, although often it is the garden varieties and crosses that are used.

Cowslips provide a valuable early nectar source for bees.

Animals

Honey bee

Foliage	Green
Flower	Yellow, April to May
Moisture	(Dry)
Sunlight	(Full sun)
Origin	Native