Primulas 2012

[Shadylanejewel]

P. allionii (and the hybrids) are all very lovely and floriferous.  I'll definitely be looking for seed on next year's lists. 

[ranunculus]

Brian Burrow certainly raised some exceptional Primulas.

And Brian is an exceptional lecturer, as we discovered once again at our East Lancashire AGS Group meeting on Monday last.

[Shadylanejewel]

Petite auricula Ivan Agee blooming in the greenhouse.

[David Nicholson]

Julie, are you sure you don't have a label malfunction? Your plant looks very much like Primula marginata 'Ivy Agee'

[Mark Griffiths]

I think probably the last one for this season. Ken Wooster's "Eureka", a pure white allionii, no petal reflexing (hurrah!) and a nice texture.

 

[Maggi Young]

Julie, are you sure you don't have a label malfunction? Your plant looks very much like Primula marginata 'Ivy Agee'

 Julie's plant is saying Primula allionii to me..... I know there is a marginata called Ivy Agee.... but that plant is not it, I don't think. .

Here's a link to a pic on Michal Hoppel's site :http://www.alpines.home.pl/p/Joomla/index.php?option=com_zoom&Itemid=43&catid=25&PageNo=3

and for the plant:
http://www.alpines.home.pl/p/Joomla/components/com_zoom/www/view.php?popup=1&q={obfs:225227208219224263274271286227215212265217223203263268267286227215212265219209259224215219214263286227215212265220219208263275286227215212265207219224263276}

[Shadylanejewel]

Julie, are you sure you don't have a label malfunction?

David - Evidently it was a partial memory malfunction.  

Julie's plant is saying Primula allionii to me.

Maggi - you're definitely correct 'Ivy Agee' is beautiful but definitely not my plant.  

Possibly an auricula x allionii?  I bought the plant at a sale several years ago.  Evidently petite auricula hybrids were grown by the late Herb Dickson.

Ooops - forgot to add the photo of the label (so here it is) - batting zero on this post.  

[Shadylanejewel]

Mark - 'Eureka' is very aptly named!

[David Nicholson]

Ah, it becomes clearer. Ivanel (shortened to Ivy) Agee was an American Primula breeder and she did indeed raise P. marginata 'Ivy Agee' which, I agree with Maggi, is not Julie's plant. Julie's plant could well be, going by the label, a relation to a plant previously bred by Ivanel. It could have some allionii in it and I feel it's also got some marginat in it too. I bet it grows like a cabbage in some good soil in a shady part of the garden.

[Shadylanejewel]

Ah, it becomes clearer. Ivanel (shortened to Ivy) Agee was an American Primula breeder and she did indeed raise P. marginata 'Ivy Agee' which, I agree with Maggi, is not Julie's plant. Julie's plant could well be, going by the label, a relation to a plant previously bred by Ivanel. It could have some allionii in it and I feel it's also got some marginat in it too. I bet it grows like a cabbage in some good soil in a shady part of the garden.

Thank you for the history lesson David.  I am too afraid to plant it out in the garden.  When it gets a little bigger, I will do some cuttings and try with those.  I'd love to have it growing like a cabbage. 

[Lesley Cox]

Three years ago I raised a batch of what were labelled P. marginata, from surplus seed. There were about 30 plants in all. I kept them all until they flowered because the foliage in a few was pure marginata but about 3/4 had foliage ranging through most of the auricula group, including allionii and the larger glutinosa, etc. I figured they were from collected seed and included a range of hybrids. In the meantime, almost all have flowered now and every flower is pure marginata, both in colour and form. Very nice plants but not the variation of bloom that the initial seedlings led me to hope for.

[Shadylanejewel]

Very nice plants but not the variation of bloom that the initial seedlings led me to hope for.

That can be very disappointing to wait for several years and not be what you wanted.

I raised some auricula hybrids from seed back in 2000 and some had marginata foliage and the blooms were a wide variety of color.  When they were in bloom, the greenhouse smelled heavenly.  Within a few years, I lost them all.  The kids drowned them in the heat of summer (vacations don't work well when you have a ton of plants).  I still feel guilty when I look at the photos.  I lost my Daphne 'Briggs Moonlight' that same vacation (the kids didn't notice that a mole had pushed it clear out of the ground).

On a more pleasant note, this is a Primula veris 'Sunset Shades' I grew from seed a couple of years ago.  My friend wants me to enter something in the National Primula show next month.  I've never entered a show before, so I may chicken out.

[mark smyth]

Giles your Gilted Ginger is lovely

[fermi de Sousa]

Giles your Gilted Ginger is lovely

Yes, Giles, it's superb - you grow so many lovely varieties.
Maybe Maggi would consider changing your title to "Prince of Primula"?
cheers
fermi

[mark smyth]

I was in Homebase today where I saw and bought Primula 'Cheshire Life'