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An evergreen, spring-blooming primrose from the mountains of southern Europe, it has scented, deep yellow flowers and fleshy, light green leaves. It ideally needs the sharply drained soil with added grit of a rock garden, though it can also be grown to the front of a border. You can even highlight it in a pot filled with John Innes No 2 with added peat or grit. Stand it on a cheap, second-hand bookcase, nailed to a wall, under a mini roof to keep off persistent rain with a group of the showier, bi-coloured Alpine auriculas which need shelter from persistent rain. Ease off the watering from August, keeping it to a minimum in winter.