Primula japonica

One of the candelabra primroses, these brilliant magenta flowers open in whorls up a tall stalk up to 2 feet in height. These whorls can continue blooming for two or three months if the plants are happy; read that as: cool, shady, and wet. We have several patches, including our stream bed, where they seed politely and have naturalized. They have just started opening this week, each stalk with two or three whorls, but the picture shows the successive buds waiting to emerge (appropriately drenched with rain). Their only foe seems to be our invasive slugs which think these plants very tasty, though the primulas seem to tough it out even with some munched edges of flowers and leaves.