Cowslip is one of Europe’s common native plants that saw a big decline in the UK post-World War II due to habitat destruction from ploughing grassland. These days in Yorkshire I see it mainly on steep grassy banks lining A-roads toward the east and north of the county. It’s far more common in the south of the UK.
It took me a few years in our garden to discover a single cowslip in our coppice where it almost certainly was planted by a previous owner. I left it for a couple of years to tough it out but decided in autumn to hoik it up to a less competitive spot in our garden.
I’m glad I did. I was able to easily divide that one plant into three. A few months later each division has already grown to full size, happily flowering in different spots of our garden.
Using cowslip in design
I’m planning to encourage the spread of cowslip in two key areas:
Garden: as one of our key low-growing spring plants to form a light yellow wash through our main garden.
Wilder area: primarily filled with na…
