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| 15th April 2013 | 1st May 2016 | |
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Such an odd thing, a tiny fragile speck of vegetable clinging to a
tenuous existence in a pot of unlikely mud and minerals and shouting pinkly at the top of its voice. A hybrid involving P.allionii and P.auricula 'Old Red Dusty Miller' but so close to P.allionii in appearance that you would hardly know. Writing in the Journal of the Alpine Garden Society, Clare Brightman says: "The early shows of the season are normally notable for the varied exhibits of different forms of Primula allionii but at Loughborough the many lovely plants were joined by a striking interloper. Primula 'Lismore Treasure' has the general appearance of P. allionii but suspicions were immediately aroused by the yellow, instead of white, eye to the flowers. The initial cross of P. allionii 'Crowsley Variety' with P. 'Red Dusty Miller' was baqck-crossed with 'Crowsley Variety' again to yield a rich cerise flower giving the cushiom an overall warm glow. In 2003, John Richards wrote: "A carefully planned programme of crosses, and the ruthless composting of all but the very best products, can significantly increases the range of really worthwhile alpines. Primula 'Lismore Treasure' is an excellent example of such foresight. It is now more than twenty years since Brian Burrow put the pollen of P. x pubescens 'Old Red Dusty Miller' to P. allionii 'Crowsley Variety' and backcrossed P. allionii to one of the resulting hybrids. 'Lismore Treasure' has the habit of a cushion-forming P. allionii, but the vigour of a hybrid. It is perhaps the most striking of all the P. allionii crosses for the way that its bright carmine flowers are picked out by the gamboge eye." |
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