Primulas

I called in at the garden centre today to pick up some primulas (at least I think they are primulas) to give a bit of colour to my tubs in the front garden. I also bought some primroses to plant in the bed at the bottom of the garden. The assistant said that the primroses would spread and last for years whilst I should regard the primulas as annuals (or more realistically a couple of months at best). I didn't know what the difference between primulas and primroses is - so I looked it up and the definition follows:


"Polyanthus is a common name for flowers part of the primula genus. ... They are named Primula from the Latin primus meaning first, because they are the first flowers to appear in Spring. Polyanthus plants are known to be a natural hybrid between the cowslip (Primula veris) and the common primrose (Primula vulgaris)"