Help to Identify a late flowering primula.

[Alastair108]

Hi.
Posted 05 July 2020
In a container of Primula veris, being kept for seed, I have a new flower. In July. Is this P elatior It's tall enough.
Is it common to have cowslips or oxlips flowering in July? The rest were past by the start of May.

First post with images. Hope I did it right.

[ashley]

Welcome Alastair.
I think your plant might be Primula florindae, Giant or Tibetan cowslip, which typically flowers in summer.

[Alastair108]

Thanks Ashley.
Now how on earth did that get in there, I wonder?  I did try some more unusual primulas last year, but as far as I was aware, none germinated.
Looks like a mislabel or a maybe a seed got dropped in the wrong tray.
I'll paw through my box of old packets tomorrow and see if that one is in there. Meanwhile, more seeds to collect.

I just googled P florindae. Apparently it is highly scented. I 'll have a sniff in the morning.
Thanks again.
A.

[Maggi Young]

Your nose  will be  delighted, Alastair.  One  of  my  favourite  primulas- comes  in various colours and all smell divine!

[Alastair108]

I had to get very close, but the flower does have a strong scent , supporting Ashley's identification.

I did order some primula seeds in April from Plant World Seeds, including P florindae variety "Ray's Ruby" - but that has red flowers, so it couldn't be that, even if they had germinated, which they haven't. (There's time yet...)

In any case, the rest of the cowslips in the planter were  planted out last autumn.

Maybe a passing bird?? It would take precision bombing. More probably a mislabelled seed I expect. Most welcome anyway. I'll definitely try collecting any seed.
A