Primulas: May.

[arisaema]

2. Primula secundiflora (pale form). I think. (Was meant to be P.handeliana) 

Yuck, same thing happened here - and I must have sold over 25 of them wrongly named

ETA: I may be way off, but I thought it looked like P. sikkimensis?

Do you grow/have you flowered any Primula sp. (high, woodland) from Blue Moon Valley, Zhongdian? (ex Pilous.)

[Magnar]

Magnar,
Norway doesn't seem to be a bad place to grow Primula's ! 

All look great and seldom seen !

Yes,, i guess my climate is wet and cold enough for many of them   

I have quite a lot of different speices and forms and most do very well here

[Giles]

.....I was only guessing, so am open to suggestions on that one.
I have a red sikkimensis, but its flowers are bigger and more 'dangly'.
I was given the 'P.handeliana' in the picture from an expert, and bought another (which has turned out the same) from a nursery.
I try growing anything, but the big bog primulas droop during the day and stiffen up at night, so they always end up with kinky stems.

[arisaema]

We all probably got wild collected seeds last year from Dr. Holubec, labelled Primula cf. handeliana. Give your plant a couple of days and I think you'll find the flowers expand to the same size as "red sikkimensis", at least they have so on my plants. Also, P. secundiflora is supposed to have vertical stripes on the calyces (I cheated and looked that up ).

(Edit: Typing error.)

[Giles]

Now I know what to look for, I see you are right ! 

[Lesley Cox]

I shan't ever forget the incredibly fine pictures and plants shown by Finn Haugli in New Zealand, of primula species in Tromso. They obviously ADORED that climate.

[arisaema]

Primula hoi (ex SSSE 24) - I should probably divide the clump as only a few of the seedlings show the nice red markings on the foliage.

Edit: Just read the description and it has to be a different species, probably P. gemmifera?

[Tony Willis]

We all probably got wild collected seeds last year from Dr. Holubec, labelled Primula cf. handeliana. Give your plant a couple of days and I think you'll find the flowers expand to the same size as "red sikkimensis", at least they have so on my plants. Also, P. secundiflora is supposed to have vertical stripes on the calyces (I cheated and looked that up ).

(Edit: Typing error.)

I have it from an alpine  plant sale  in Germany last year. It has not flowered yet as it had a bad winter.The man who gave it me said it looked wrong but would probably be nice anyway.

[Regelian]

A question for all you Primula fans:  which book will provide the best basics for Primula cultivation?  I have pretty good success with the few types I've tried from seed, but some just wither away.  I think I'm missing some cultural aspects and really have no idea of Primula classification.

Also, should seed be sown only fresh?  Do most species require cold treatment?  Some seem to sprout right away.

Thanks, all!

[Lori S.]

Primula by John Richards (ISBN 0-88192-580-2) seems to be the current reference work for classification, and it also contains notes for each entry on natural habitat (if applicable) and growing conditions.

Deno found that "the majority" of primulas have seed that survive dry storage.  (He notes P. rosea as an exception, where dry storage is fatal; in his supplemental works, he comments on other species which were found to be dead after some years of dry storage.)  He goes on in his publications to talk about the results from germinating individual species, and the germination delay mechanisms that some have.  Scanning through those he studied, most appear to have reasonable germination rates without stratification, but it is variable by species. 

[Giles]

Jamie,
I agree with Lori, but if you wanted books in German, there is:
Primeln by Fritz Kohlein
and
Die Aurikel by Ellert and Richter Verlag.
but
for pictures, the 'primulaworld' website is the best/most reliable/up to date source.
http://www.primulaworld.com/PWWeb/Index.shtml

[Regelian]

Lori, Giles,

thanks.  I had seen the book on Amazon and planned to order it, but, as it is getting older, I was wondering if there were other books of merit.  I love books, in any case, regardless of the language.

I had discovered the Primula World website.  A magnificent resource for fotos, but no info as to culture.  Of course, one can often read a lot from the shots.

I don't see myself becoming an absolute fanatic, but with any plant I grow, I want to inform myself as well as possible.  Primula have always fascinated me and I do want to spend a few years exploring them.  There is nothing to compare with that feeling one gets as a seed grown plant unfolds its first blossom.  But you know that !