Primula June

[Paul T]

Wonderful pics everyone.  So many fantastic Primula I've never seen before.  I just have to comment on Magnar's P. palmata.... what a stunner.  Those leaves alone are worthwhile, except you'd be thinking Pelargonium or Geranium to look at them without flowers.  VERY, very nice.

[Giles]

You'll have to humour me with this one,
but its my first ever floret on my first ever P.poissonii
its the most shocking day-glo pink

[Lesley Cox]

Well, it IS unfortunately, but the colour grows on one. Looks best with bluish species like the bluer forms of denticulata and sieboldii. Keep well away from late cockburniana flowers and the rusty-coloured candelabras.

[fermi de Sousa]

Keep well away from late cockburniana flowers and the rusty-coloured candelabras.

Oh, I don't know ,Lesley, they could produce some startling hybrids!
Just to confuse things, here's a primula vulgaris/acaulis variety which I got from a Market and which I've recently posted to another thread. I like the pencilling.

cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Fermi,

Is it perfumed?  That colour usually isn't, but you never know.  Few people here seem to realise that some of the "polyanthus" that we get in nurseries have quite strong perfumes when warm (don't seem to release it on cold days).  The strong pinks and reds seem to be the best of them, and some of the yellows.  Unfortunately other yellows can be quite offensive so you have to be careful which ones you stick your nose into.  On a warm day some of the nice ones you can smell a metre or two away from them (i.e when you're walking past).  I thought it was worth mentioning in case you hadn't noticed it..... I have bought them at times on scent as much as flower colour.

[Lesley Cox]

Well there's the wonderful 'Inverewe' of course, said to be a cockburniana with a red japonica. We should be hand pollinating as much as possible down here in the SH since importing is virtually impossible. We need to be making our own plants.

I had some seed arrive today from Norway, of Meconopsis quintuplinervia, just posted 4 days ago. Not bad! especially as it reached my box on what was still yesterday in the NH.

[Giles]

Dear Fermi,
Maybe you should look at Barnhaven's 'Striped Victorians'
or Thompson and Morgan's 'Discovering Stripes'
http://www.barnhavenprimroses.com/results.php?category=7
http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/product/6777/1
They're not quite my style!
It always amazes me when I wake up in the morning, to find that the 'night shift' have been out and busy overnight!
If you're not able to import these yourself, I'm sure we could fix something up.
Giles

[Paul T]

Giles,

I feel a bit the same way here..... it's just that there are usually more in the northern hemisphere "night shift" than there us of us southerners!! 

[Susan Band]

Couldn't resist putting in this pic. of Primula vaillii growing for seed.
Susan

[Lvandelft]

I love your "nursery" pictures Susan.
It remembers me of good old days!

[Lesley Cox]

Well really Susan, how greedy can you get? This is blatant boasting. (But well worth it

I'm not too keen on the striped polys either but I do quite like the muted Victorians in the Barnhaven link.

[Lesley Cox]

Where is page 3? There are several posts in my Inbox for this topic (and also for Chinese Gesneriads) but they don't appear here, for me. They were made in the UK during the small hours of this morning, NZ time. Should have come up by now.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Couldn't resist putting in this pic. of Primula vaillii growing for seed.
Susan

No need to put up any resistance Susan, they're a great sight ! 
Especially as I can hardly keep them alive for more than one season...
Thanks for showing !

[Susan Band]

Thanks Luit, Lesley, Luc.
I seem to be the only person in Scotland growing plants in this way, I love it.
When I grew alpines in pots and sold them wholesale I had to have them sold just before they flowered so never really saw the fruits of my labour, now I can enjoy them at their best.
Luc, P. vaillii are really fickle, some plants last for years yet others barly survive a season. This bed is in its second flowering year but there are some plants which are dieing amonst perfectly healthy ones.
Susan

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks for boosting my ego Susan !