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Monday 1 May 2017

Primrose

The ancient Greeks called the primrose “flower of the 12 gods” (dodecatheon) through a belief in its power to heal diseases including paralysis.

In Germany it was thought that the first girl to find a primrose at Easter would marry that year.


Both primrose flowers and leaves are edible, the flavor ranging between mild lettuce and more bitter salad greens.

Primrose leaves can be used to make tea and early primrose flowers can be used to make wine.

In Elizabethan times, flowers such as primroses were added to fruit salads. These could be pickled, sweetened or eaten raw.

According to an old English superstition a child who ate a primrose might see a fairy.

Shakespeare introduced the phrase "the primrose path" or "the primrose way" to signify a lazy and pleasant route through life.


Catherine the Great of Russia once took such a liking to a primrose in the palace garden that she ordered a sentry to guard the plant day and night.

April 19th is traditionally Primrose Day, marking the death of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli on April 19, 1881. Queen Victoria sent primroses to his funeral and every year on April 19 primroses are placed by Disraeli’s statue outside Westminster Abbey.

The Queen’s primrose wreath bore a note saying "his favorite flower" but it has never been clear whether she meant Disraeli’s favorite flower or her late husband Prince Albert’s.

In 1883 the political organisation the Primrose League was founded in 1883 in memory of Disraeli.

When the evening primrose flower "hears" bees buzzing nearby, it starts producing nectar that is 20 per cent sweeter.

Source Daily Express

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