Heh. Heh. Heh. 
/s/ A Modern-day Avatar of “Bill”.
Please remember to include a comment–er, I mean a link to the Staff Report.
What’s the origin of “primrose path”? by SDSTAFF Gaudere
Sorry. It was early in the morning here. I was feeling fiesty. And frisky. And irreverant. I knew no better.
Will do right the next time. 
(A very nice report. I really enjoyed it.)
Don’t sweat it.
Gaudere Where did you get this statement from–
?
My etymology dictionaries seem to think it does.
There isn’t much agreement among my dictionaries.
[li]The SOED and AHD say it comes from Latin prima rosa, “first rose”[/li][li]Klein’s Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary says it’s from Latin primula, short for primula veris, “first of spring”.[/li][li]Dictionary of Word Origins by Joseph T. Shipley says it was earlier primerols in English, from French primverol from Italian primavera, “first of spring”.[/li]In modern French, the flower is called primevère, which the Petit Larousse says is from Latin primo vere “at the beginning of spring.”
CKDex looked this up, too, when we were discussing this item:
My OED is packed up for a move in one of about 30 boxes and I am not about to dig through them to find it right now, but I recall it agreeing with Dex’s cites.
Thank you, SS.