Hand made in Dorset by a couple whose main trade is boat-building, they are extremely well made and designed to withstand the elements. I now sell these simple wall-hung cedarwood theatres in my online shop. I struggled to find an auricula theatre when I first set out to buy one, so I designed on and had it made. Another reason to keep repotting them is to check for the dreaded vine weevil, which is the main enemy of these addictive little flowers. You can replant these in smaller pots, and most should flower the following year. Autumn is the time to divide the plants, and this is done simply by tipping the pot up and gently pulling apart the offsets (see a short video here). In spring when they are in growth and flowering, they need plenty of water in winter dormancy they need much less, but can’t be completely ignored. After they have finished flowering I move them to a shady spot in the garden, and then they’ll come into the greenhouse for winter. I display them in a traditional auricula theatre on a northeast-facing wall, where they are also protected from the rain - but they don’t stay here all year round. Garden care: Divide large clumps after the plant has flowered. Preferring the cool, free-draining conditions that the plants would have in the wild (they are derived from the Alpine Primula auricula), they really don’t like too much heat and sun. Buy auricula Primula auricula Black Jack (PBR) - The flowers are a sumptuous shade.
I grow all my auriculas in 11-15cm terracota pots, and I can’t deny that they are fairly high maintenance. Many of the shows and doubles have a dusting of white farina on their leaves or flowers, a mealy substance that is thought to be a type of natural sunscreen, and this means they can be easily damaged in rain. The show auriculas come in many forms, including single-colour selfs, edged auriculas, with white, grey or green-edged petals, fancies and stripes (like green ‘Psyche’ and pale yellow ‘Regency Paperchase’ above). Popular with the Florists in the 17th century, they fell out of fashion as the show auriculas took over, and have only started regaining popularity in the last 50 years. Next come the doubles, and I love these for their tightly clustered rose-bud flowers, like bunched taffeta or silk (like the gold-coloured ‘Carmel’ above). The alpines, characterised by gold, cream or white centres, bright, glossy colours and rounded petals, are similarly easy to grow, but with slightly larger, showier flowers than the borders. The border types are the easiest to grow in a garden setting, with floriferous clusters of dolly-mixture flowers. In medieval Germany, auricula was known as the giddiness plant. The plants look best in a rock garden grown in groups in the shade of rocks or shrubby rock plants’, but they also thrive in humus-rich, well-drained. Gerarde’s ‘Herball’, published in 1597, notes that auricula foliage can help stop bleeding by constricting blood vessels. Alpine auriculas, Primula auricula, make distinctive cabbage-like clumps of foliage which, in spring, are topped by upright stems with domed heads of circular flowers in bold colours. There are various different types of auricula. Uses and Benefits of Auricula Flowers In herbalism and medicine, auricula flowers have been used to treat coughs and headaches. Although they have a reputation for being tricky, I have managed to keep them going and have increased my collection threefold by dividing plants in the autumn, with enough extra plants to give away. We find root aphids are more common in clay-pot grown plants as it is more difficult to regulate water in the compost and they sometimes get too dry. In the past you could have used Provado to control both of these pests but it is not now approved for control of vine weevil.A few years ago I came back from Chelsea having seen the famous W&S Lockyer exhibit and ordered a collection of auriculas. Watch out for vine weevil and root aphids. You may need to feed with a tomato fertilizer during the growing season. We have osmocote in our compost, which is a slow release fertilizer, lasting for up to 18 months. Cuttings in spring are fairly successful. Re-pot or divide in late summer if the plants are too big or are crowded and not flowering as well as you would like. Remove dead flowers unless you want to save seed. They do not look very exciting in the winter as they almost close themselves down until they start back into growth in the spring. Keep just damp in winter and if in a greenhouse, remove all dead leaves to avoid botrytis. Water from March onwards but never too much. Double flowers often get waterlogged if outside. Show auriculas are probably best in a cold greenhouse with plenty of ventilation, just to keep the weather from spoiling the mealy foliage and flowers.
#Primula auricula care full#
Alpine and border auriculas are easily grown outside where they like cool conditions: plenty of light in the spring but never in full summer sun.
0 kommentar(er)
