ID - old Primula cultivars

[epilobium]

Hello

My granny showed me two Primulas in her flowergarden. She told these Primulas were already growing in the garden, when she was a little child. So the plants might be at least 70 year old. I'd like to know more about these strains. Is somebody able to ID these?

I'm new here and inherited some of the flower-addiction of my grandmother. A few years ago I worked on (sub-)alpine willowherbs in the blackforest. So I chose Epilobium as my alias here, in this interesting forum. I hope to learn a lot here - Thank you Maggi for the welcome (in another tread).

Martin

[Ragged Robin]

Hi Martin and welcome to this  Forum full of information and expert advice although not from me 

I remember similar old Primula cultivars in the garden where I grew up and love the soft colours - hope someone advises you 

[Rodger Whitlock]

#2 and #3 remind me of 'Kinlough Beauty', but its yellow eye is smaller.

[epilobium]

Hi Robin and Roger

Thanks for your hints ... a closer look and some google search later, I think that the red Primula on the first photo #1 might be a Primula veris (propably hybrid) as it shares the bell shaped flowers with the wild Primula veris I'm familiar with. Some pictures of Primula veris `Sunset Shades´ on the net show the most similar plants, I've found until now. 

As for pix #2 and #3 I was first tempted to call it a P. elatior hybrid .. Rodgers hint led me to the Juliana Hybrids (crosses with Primula juliae now called Primula x pruhoniciana) which were already popular in the 1920s in Europe... This would perfectly fit to the time schedule and the known age of these plants.
So #2 and #3 might be a cross with some blood of P. elatior, juliae and maybe others.

So we already dug up some of the plants supposed histories ... maybe a name (if there is one) for these cultivars will complete the stories in the future.

Thanks Martin

[Rodger Whitlock]

Let me add that there was once an orange-flowered Primula × pruhoniciana, 'E R Janes', but it seems to have disappeared from cultivation decades ago.

AFAIK, all the species in Primula section Vernales are inter-fertile, so there are many cultivars with quite complex parentage; there's really no easy way to identify your Oma's plants unless someone simply recognizes them at sight, as is not uncommon.

[Kovacs Pal]

I have Primula veris var. rubriflora which is very similar to the first photo. It is intrinsting that the red parts of the flower were darker in the first years but now are paler.

[Lesley Cox]

I had 'E R Janes' once, a sort of flesh-pinky apricot colour. But it was a flat plant, like 'Wanda.'

[Ragged Robin]

I have Primula veris var. rubriflora which is very similar to the first photo. It is intrinsting that the red parts of the flower were darker in the first years but now are paler.

Hi Kovacs, great to see the wonderful photos of your Primula veris var. rubriflora    It is a lovely Primula with and old fashion airey feel and the colours are perfect in a multiple of flowers held on that tall stalk.  I wonder what has made it change colour over the years, is it the same plant

[gote]

AS pointed out by Rodger, it is hardly possible to pinpoint a name. Before the great influx of Asian species, European had to do with what they had and eagerly collected variations in the natural flora. Primula veris is the "county flower" in my county (Närke) and it is comon in old gardens and around cottages as semi-wild. In these populations there is sometimes a certain portion of red ones. I have unnamed P.v. seedlings which have been here since thre quarters of a century and some of them are red. When I look at old pictures I get the impression that the saturation of the red is not the same from year to year but it could be a photographic freak. I recently found a rather clear orange but that is unusual.
I agree that the wide petals point to elatior blood. In my case elatior is an "import" so there is no influence from that one in the old stock and vulgaris is not even hardy here.
I would settle on the name "Granny's Primrose' and if challenged say that this is not a cultivar name but a litteral description  
Cheers
Göte    

[Rodger Whitlock]

I had 'E R Janes' once, a sort of flesh-pinky apricot colour. But it was a flat plant, like 'Wanda.'

The hybrid cultivars with P. juliae blood in them seem to have three different life styles: low, creeping ones with quite small stemless flowers (P. juliae itself, the Ahrends "Schnee" group, undoubtedly some others); low creeping ones with small flowers on stalks ('Lady Greer', 'Dorothy'), betraying some blood from P. elatior or P. veris; and clumping ones resembling P. vulgaris in growth habit ('Wanda' and its many cousins). Of course, the boundaries between these three groups are not sharp; one might want to put Wanda-like forms in with the low, creeping, stemless flower group.

[epilobium]

Thanks for all your help!

As a start I'll use the name proposed by Göte 

...
I would settle on the name "Granny's Primrose' and if challenged say that this is not a cultivar name but a litteral description  
Cheers
Göte    

here some brandnew better pictures of the flowers.
And a picture of the native Anemone sylvestris
and a cultivated Narcissus - very close to N. poeticus.
I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Martin

[Ragged Robin]

Martin,

I'm glad you decided to use Gote's proposal    certainly your latest photos show this lovely Primrose in a lovely light and if you ever have seed that needs a home it would be happy here 

Your native Anemone sylvestris is gorgeous too and looking at your fab Narcissus photo my N poeticus are in bud just about to burst 

[Kristl Walek]

Interesting to see this post because I have just this week been busy digging this Primula from my lawn. As I am rapidly eliminating most of the grass on my new Nova Scotia property, these had to be saved first. Annapolis Royal, with its long history, is bursting with naturalized plants brought by early settlers. Lawns are full of them.

I assumed these were Primula veris in various colour forms. Now potted in flats, they will be replanted somewhere together later this season. While there were still a few of the species yellow, most are orange and red shades.

How nice to be connected around the world in this way!!!!!

[Kristl Walek]

could anyone comment on this primula i originally grew from Barnhaven seed many many years ago --- would like to call it something other than ex Barnhaven.

Primula × pruhoniciana????

[Lvandelft]

could anyone comment on this primula i originally grew from Barnhaven seed many many years ago --- would like to call it something other than ex Barnhaven.

Primula × pruhoniciana?

Kristl, don't know what kind of hybrid it is, but definitely not Primula × pruhoniciana.