This spring, they've plumped out and are blooming like crazy. Naturally I've been buying more primroses, giving them as hostess gifts and forcing them on friends. I've also planted several more in my own garden. A plant I'd regarded as a throw-away has become a keeper.

Primroses come in seemingly infinite variety. The showy little plants found in grocery stores and nurseries are a perennial if planted in a slightly shady spot with well-drained soil rich with humus. Primula auricula, a hybrid of the common primrose, is the true diva of the genus.

I first encountered the auriculas a couple of years ago during a visit to the New York Botanical Garden.  In a clearing I saw a  small wooden theater with a tiered stage and a painted swag of curtain. Onstage was a dazzling array of primroses so perfectly formed and colored they didn't even look real. The ornate little theater was one of the most charmingly daffy things I'd ever seen.

There's a bit of history behind the little theaters, and unsurprisingly it involves those keen gardeners, the British.

Cultivating auriculas was a craze in 19th-century Britain. Grand estates would showcase the prize blooms in increasingly ornate theatrical settings. The love of the show blooms cut across all classes of British society. The delicate auriculas became wildly popular among coal miners in England and Wales, who also built elaborate theaters for the plants.

I doubt I'll be erecting a stage in my yard, but I'll keep adding to my small collection of primroses and look forward to their star turn in my spring garden.

Primrose photo credit: Algerina Perna / Sun staff photographer