Primula 2023

[Claire Cockcroft]

I got tired of fiddling with individual pots, so I planted many of my Primula marginata forms outside in a raised bed.  I cover the bed in winter to keep the plants fairly dry and to protect the farina on the leaves.  Here are a few pictures.  (Names are buried in the gravel.)

[Claire Cockcroft]

Two more pictures plus a Primula spectabilis hybrid and a pot of Primula marginata

[ruweiss]

Claire, thanks for showing us your beautiful plants, I especially like the last group of
P. marginata, they must be rather old. Attached is a photo of this species from
Monte Saccarello in the Ligurian Alps.
The other plants are hybrids.

[MarcR]

Claire, thanks for showing us your beautiful plants, .........

I agree!  Very lovely display!

[Claire Cockcroft]

I'm not sure who this little fellow is, but its flowers are bright and cheery.  Grown from seed many years ago and I haven't killed it (yet); just a cutting that likes where I put it.

[partisangardener]

Very impressing these precious beauties.

A late frost did smoother my small P. mistassinica. It did not affect the flowers only the leafs from last winter. I thought maybe too wet on my islands.
Now they are in full bloom and got new leafs. Maybe this is the natural course?

The second half batch sown in October last year is already germinating. I hope to get seeds.

Primula frondosa is much more floriferous  and the rosette much bigger still quite small

Even buckets are suitable.
Some small Primula with Pinguicula longifolia var. longifolia

This Primula from the link is probably frondosa.

[partisangardener]

I hope to grow a lot different little beauties on these floating islands. The variation with a small rock (tuff, lava, brick or others) seems to be most promising .
The maintenance is next to nothing.

I would even like to have a try on the so called uncultivable species on some of my islands. Probably i would have to adjust my winterroutine a bit.
Or even better, someone would like to try it in his garden or greenhouse with a hydroponic system. I would like to hear from it and of course put some brainpower into upturning problems if wanted.

The browning of the old  leafs  turned up this spring while we had some late frost, new leafs came up a few days later. The complete rosette is only 2 cm
two third of an inch.

[Margaret Thorne]

My thanks to the person who donated seed of Primula reidii var. williamsii to The Meconopsis Group seed exchange, circulated as 21/163. Ours was sown on 09/02/2022 and the single plant raised is in flower now. It has exquisite fragrance.
Is it possible to self-pollinate a single thrum plant and obtain seed? Does anyone nearby have a pin plant for matchmaking? Is there any chance of it being perennial?
Any helpful suggestions about perpetuating this plant would be gratefully received!

[MarcR]

Margaret,


"Primula reidii

Authors:
Botanical Description

The most popular Soldanelloides species in cultivation, but still not often seen. Leaves pale green, bullate, long-hairy, oblong, 3-12cm long by 2-3cm wide. Flowers ivory-white to mid blue, fragrant, broadly bell-shaped, 1.8-2.5cm across in umbels of three to ten on slender stems 6-15cm high. A very beautiful plant, short-lived, and best grown in a cool well-drained place outside, cloched in winter when it reduces to a small green speck. Kashmir to west Nepal on wet rocks and peaty ledges from 3300-4500m. Robust plants have been called v williamsii but are not obviously distinct."  AGS

It appears to be a short-lived perennial. Many Primulas will self polinate so it certainly wouldn't hurt to try.  If it doesn't self, you loose nothing.  If it does self you can restart it.

[Margaret Thorne]

Marc
Thank you for quoting the reference for Primula reidii from the AGS encyclopaedia. John Richards has been busy keeping these updated and they are well worth reading, as is his book and Pam Eveleigh’s “Primula World” website. However, none of these sources says whether thrum eyed P. reidii var. williamsii will set seed if self-pollinated or is one of the self-sterile species. So it would be good to make contact with someone who has tried it.
Nothing to lose? Well I’m not so sure about that – I think the integrity of the flower would be lost. The style is so far down such a slender tube that it seems impossible to attempt any intervention without trashing the whole thing. I’ll maybe give it a go when the flower is past its best, but at the moment I think I’ll just enjoy it.

[partisangardener]

I hope to grow a lot different little beauties on these floating islands. The variation with a small rock (tuff, lava, brick or others) seems to be most promising .
The maintenance is next to nothing.

I would even like to have a try on the so called uncultivable species on some of my islands. Probably i would have to adjust my winterroutine a bit.
Or even better, someone would like to try it in his garden or greenhouse with a hydroponic system. I would like to hear from it and of course put some brainpower into upturning problems if wanted.

The browning of the old  leafs  turned up this spring while we had some late frost, new leafs came up a few days later. The complete rosette is only 2 cm
two third of an inch.

Now Primula mistassinica looks much better. Seems to be normal. The next generation sown in last autumn is already coming up everywhere in the gravel.

[Gail]

Does anyone has access to the original description for Primula juliae or preferably an English translation? Most reports say it was found by Julia Młokosiewicz, the daughter of Ludwig Młokosiewicz for whom the peony is named. However I was reading through Graham Stuart Thomas' The Rock Garden and its Plants and he says it was named for Julie, the daughter of Albert Regel of St Petersburg (presumably Johann Albert von Regel). I was curious to know which was correct.

[Leena]

This Primula was grown as P.alpicola, but it is not.
Any guesses what it could be? There is no meal in flower stems, but leaves don't match P.japonica.
Could it be P.burmanica? Or maybe a hybrid with something?
It is flowering now, at the same time as P.alpicola.

[Maggi Young]

Does anyone has access to the original description for Primula juliae or preferably an English translation? Most reports say it was found by Julia Młokosiewicz, the daughter of Ludwig Młokosiewicz for whom the peony is named. However I was reading through Graham Stuart Thomas' The Rock Garden and its Plants and he says it was named for Julie, the daughter of Albert Regel of St Petersburg (presumably Johann Albert von Regel). I was curious to know which was correct.

   Tried to find an English  translation but found  description of P. juliae, from this page ( and page 75) https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10526742#page/153/mode/1up    that there is mention of the  Młokosiewicz  connection, so I reckon that's your answer!

[Gail]

Ah, many thanks Maggi! I hadn't liked to imagine that Graham Stuart Thomas was mistaken...