Primulas 2011.

[Maggi Young]

I agree, Mark and Stephan... a Primrose Party could be great fun!
Stephan, welcome, good to have  you posting here  .

 Someone near me thinks an Erythronium Extravaganza would be even better!! 

[mark smyth]

or Primrose Parade

An Erythronium would be good also

[Nick_the_grief]

Another one flowered today

A. Rene

[arisaema]

Finally something that doesn't look like it belongs in a kebab...

[David Nicholson]

Another one flowered today

A. Rene

Nice one Nick. Is it a new one I haven't heard of it before?

[FrazerHenderson]

Some auriculas.. nothing special or named..

[FrazerHenderson]

..and a few more..

There is something about them though. There is tendency to get carried away with various genera and suddenly have no more room (or money or time for that matter!).

The camera doesn't really do justice to the coulours; I can now truly appreciate why the Victorians created auricula theatres to appreciate better these wondrous plants. A couple of minutes of truly detailed examination is an investment that will pay dividends for years to come.

[Gail]

Here is my take on an auricula theatre - made from an old picture frame.  (Although the photo was taken a couple of years ago and currently the frame needs re-painting...)

[Brian Ellis]

Very attractive Gail, My friend Jane-Ann does something similar and also has them on a sort of ladder!

[Giles]

'Tortoiseshell'
'Petticoat'

[mark smyth]

Some Auriculas on my web site
http://marksgardenplants.com/auriculas.htm

Giles how does Tortoiseshell differ from Elizabeth Kellilay? The colour on my photo is slightly to light

[Giles]

- to my mind, 'Tortoiseshell' has a rounder, flatter, more divided looking flower, giving a more dainty effect.

[ruweiss]

First flower of Primula geranifolia from seed collected by J. Jurasek in Yunnan
at 4000 m.

[Knud]

The colour of the third photo (the little purple one) .... is it true in the photograph?
..definitely something with juliae parentage, but otherwise doesn't look familiar (sorry).
Have a look at PrimulaWorld to see what juliae looks like, and you'll see what I mean....

Thank you, Giles for good advice, and refence to PrimulaWorld. Your were right in questioning the colour, it isn't true. I rarely check or adjust colour in my pictures as I have been happy with the rendering of most colours by my camera, but this one it missed. I first tried, flower in hand, to adjust the colour in my photo-software (Lightroom), but could not manage to get a good match. I took new pictures, in sun, in shade, after sunset with and without flash but the colour is elusive. The best result I got in shade against an even grey background. The actual colour is a redder purple than in the photo of my last post, in today's photo the two smaller flowers on the right (and the two small leaves) belong to the unknown primula, the other, shown for reference, is one that has inhabited this garden since the 70-ies and is possibly Wanda. This picture has better colour, but is still not right, not "red" enough.


I'm sorry, Lesley, that the colour was off, but it is still a very nice primula, covered in flowers in a good year, well above the leaves for at least two weeks.


Knud

[Giles]

   (sorry)