What to do with primulas and primroses after flowering

I have had a good display of primulas and primroses this year and would ask what you experts do with them when you want their space after flowering?
Do you pot them for use later or do you throw them away?
Can you get seed from them and would that seed be true to what you had?
If you do pot them, when would you re-introduce them to the flowerbeds?
Thanks

 

Good hardy strains of primroses and polyanthus can be lifted and lined out in the veg garden or under a fruit tree to be re-used the following year. Many can also be divided to make more plants. Ideally they should be in not too dry dappled shade for the summer. Pots of a decent size could be used if not allowed to dry out.
Having said that many new strains are bred to be bedding plants for single use and may not have the constitution to be used again but it's worth trying if you have the space

 

Thanks for your suggestions and would ask at what time of the year would you replant?

 

I would agree with Lovage, Taffy.
I'm lifting mine and planting them at the end of a vegetable bed.
You can replant them where you want them for spring display when you have the space back - ie, when you lift your summer bedding because it's over put your spring bedding back in that space.
Yes, you can grow most primulas etc from collected seed. The seed germinates better fresh than shop bought stuff which has been lying about drying out for a year.
Primula seed doesn't want high temperatures so the earlier planted the better - hopefully in time to get a few cold nights. If you think you're late with it, put the seed in the fridge for a few days before planting, then surface sow in a pot of damp compost sealed in a poly bag and put in a shady corner. It should come up in a couple of weeks. If it fails to appear put it in the shadiest corner you have and wait until next spring. Sometimes you get lucky !

 

My primula are still flowering (and they are ones from last year too that I just left in their pots), but when you remove the blooms that have finished, do you just snip off the top bit with the flower head or do you cut if off at the base of that stem? I never know and tend to do a bit of both.

 

Hi Butterfield. You can cut them where you like.
The idea is to remove the flowers and stop them from wasting energy making seed.
If you are going to leave them where they are then cutting the flower stem to the base may look tidier - otherwise it doesn't matter a diddlysquat.

 

Thanks Alice,

I am going to leave them where they are and I agree it looks tidier to cut them short, so I will cut them short!