Primula juliae

[David Pilling]

The plants grown from the 'P. juliae' seed from 'Seeds by Size' that Giles gave me are flowering at the moment. All I'm saying is these are what the seed turned into, given my form they're probably not even primulas. Of the three with flowers today there is variation from pink to purple, the one in the photo is in the middle of the range.

[Maggi Young]

Interesting that your babies are flowering now, David, I noticed some juliae types just that colour flowering in an old established clump in a nearby garden earlier this week.

[Rodger Whitlock]

The plants grown from the 'P. juliae' seed from 'Seeds by Size' that Giles gave me are flowering at the moment. All I'm saying is these are what the seed turned into, given my form they're probably not even primulas. Of the three with flowers today there is variation from pink to purple, the one in the photo is in the middle of the range.

They could very well be Primula juliae. It has a very small flower, and that thumb offers a good standard by which to measure these.

Of more interest, the range of color you have.

Regrettably, when I tried to order P. juliae seed from "Seeds by Size", after a very long time, the reply came back that their supplier could or would not supply the small quantity I wanted. Game over.

[Lesley Cox]

No! No! No! They are NOT P. juliae, but what commercial growers are now CALLING juliae but by which they mean something of the general type of Wanda and the like. They are small, making little rosettes of flowers usually in a central bunch and in various colours and shades. I daresay they suit many people for a colourful display but THEY ARE NOT PRIMULA JULIAE and if anyone yet again tries to palm these off on me as P. juliae I shall tear my hair out. So thanks for the warning David as I was about to order some. I do have a single plant of P. juliae, in flower at the moment and shall photograph it tomorrow.

[David Pilling]

No! No! No! They are NOT P. juliae

I hoped you'd say that... primroses that look like the ones in my photo are common in my experience, perhaps hybrids that may have some p.juliae in their backgrounds.

It's interesting how names matter in gardening.

Picking up Maggi's comment, there's a row of 'arctic' ™ and 'harbinger' (of Winter) primroses flowering just out of the above photo, so not well placed for collecting pure seed.

[Rodger Whitlock]

The real question (at least within 10 meters of my estimable self, the rest of the universe can go hang) is whether anyone has both pin- and thrum-eyed plants of the authentic P. juliae. Both of mine are iirc pins (but my memory may be wrong-o), and I suspect they are the same clone.

The real P. juliae is one of those plants that seem to be fading out of cultivation because they are chiefly propagated vegetatively and are gradually weakening as the viral titer builds up.

Has anyone ever asked the Tbilisi Botanic Garden for seed of this and other Caucasian rarities?

[Lesley Cox]

Maybe some of our Eastern European Forum members could think about this?

I can't photograph mine at present. We're having more snow!

This is an old pic of the foliage alone and it is nothing at all like that in David's picture. Will try and do the whole plant tomorrow.

[David Pilling]

Interesting picture Lesley.

In Richards Primula book it says that P. Juliae has flowers that emerge laterally rather from the centre of the rosette and that it creeps rather than forming rosettes. He also comments that it is naturalised around a reservoir near Glasgow.

The photos at:

http://www.primulaworld.com/PWweb/gallery/juliae.html

confirm that. As does the photo from Olga at the start of this thread.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

Definitely different to what we have here as juliae as well.  Obviously ours are hybrids.  I rather like the true species.  Nice appearance, judging from the pics.

[Lesley Cox]

Here is my P. juliae in bloom (sparsely, and damaged by this week's snow and rain). Olga's on the first page is a super plant and just as it should look when grown well. As David mentions, Richards mentions the creeping rather than rosette forming habit, and unlike say P. warshenewsiana which creeps about beflow the surface, P. juliae tends to make surface rhizomes, not unlike those of Iris cristata.For the record, mine is thrum-eyed. Maybe a Scottish Forumist would like to photograph the naturalized colony near Glasgow.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Maybe a Scottish Forumist would like to photograph the naturalized colony near Glasgow.

More to the point, maybe a Glaswegian lover of primulas and his fellow man would like to collect seed from the naturalized colony near Glasgow and donate it to the exchange.

[Maggi Young]

Good luck, Rodger, in your attempts to galvanise a Glaswegian into action! 

[Armin]

David,
I agree with Lesley your plant looks like one of the plenty forms of Primula x pruhoniciana (syn. x Juliana) (P. juliae hybrids).
We had similar discussions on the forum a while ago and I remember an article:
http://www.alaskaprimroses.org/articles/PrimulaJuliae.htm
It gives some background of breeding history.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Primula x pruhoniciana (syn. x Juliana) (P. juliae hybrids)

Anyone interested in this group of primulas should be alert for any of George Ahrends' "Schnee" cultivars to turn up.

There were, afaict, about half a dozen of these, but they're almost all out of cultivation - or at least not widely available.

The two I have, 'Schneesturm' and 'Schneetreiben' are pretty good doers, so it's a little odd that the group as a whole has become so rare.

[Lesley Cox]

Primula x pruhoniciana (syn. x Juliana) (P. juliae hybrids)

Anyone interested in this group of primulas should be alert for any of George Ahrends' "Schnee" cultivars to turn up.

We (here) should be so lucky! Yes, they're generally all good doers so long as their compost is kept enriched and fertile and they are kept damp through hot times. I think that so few are now available or even in cultivation for the most part, is largely a matter of fashion and that so many hundreds of new and quite different plants became available in the 60s, 70, 80s and 90s from so many different collectors. They were relatively common, easy and even, one could say, homely plants that suddenly they were no longer greatly desirable, a great shame, as it is with so many plants, apparently lost to modern gardeners.