I have a very blacky-brown thumb (instead of the customary green one) when it comes to plants. I have good intentions, but I oftentimes get distracted or lazy, and then my garden or houseplant learns to hate me.

I’ve decided to spend some time this year working on this lack-of-talent. This year, I will learn to grow vegetables and tame my wild flower garden (as the neighbour’s gardener described it, “Like an English Country Garden”, but I think he meant the “before” shot of The Secret Garden).

When I saw primulas (or primroses) for sale – for a buck! – at the hardware store, I couldn’t help but grab a few. They reminded me of the chatty flowers from Alice in Wonderland; they had to come home with me!

After a bit of research and a conversation with Grandma Gardener (who didn’t pass down the gardening gene to her daughter, unfortunately), I learned that these little beauties can live indoors.

They need to be somewhere cool, with exposure to morning light; their soil must be damp but not soggy. They’re perennial, but it sounds like they might not love being popped into the garden after they bloom. That might be a little Suburble experiment, as the Internet’s suggestion of keeping them in a basement until next Spring made me raise a very skeptical eyebrow. Plus, I don’t have a basement. Would they love being in a dark hole of a crawlspace that even Hubby is afraid of?

Like I said, plants learn to distrust me.

The primroses are on a serving platter that I normally adorn with crackers and cheese-y type things. I could transplant them into something ceramic, but I actually really like this look. It’s very “fresh-from-outside”.

The whole tray can go outside at night (advice from Grandma Gardener), and I’ve remembered to do that… sort of. They don’t look too unhappy to be staying with us – they’re obviously fairly hardy little plants – and I’ve been enjoying the splash of color on the table while we eat our meals or while I have a cup of tea.

For $3, how can you go wrong?

If you see primulas (or primroses) at the hardware store or the grocery store – and you happen to be a Black Thumbed Gardener like myself – I recommend you pick a few of these up for your home! And if you kill them… well…. you can buy fairly cheap tulips in a few weeks.