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In 2002 Nicola Schulman wrote a biography of Reginald Farrer (Short Books ltd) titles "A rage for Rock Gardening...". It seemed a perfect title to explain the phenomenon.
I have experienced such "rages" from time to time. It is quite fun to think of them as sublimated sexual desire but, to be as honest as I can, the linkage implies
a more colourful and passionate life than I can recall happening. During 2016-20 I experienced such a rage for the petiolarid primulas. It was based on the availability of plants and it wasn't rational. For decades I had lived perfectly comfortably with the idea that they weren't really suitable for southern gardeners in the UK. With the wild flag-waving determination of a gentleman in his 50s pretending to be a revolutionary youth, I set out to grow some. In short, it wasn't rational, the rage passed. I got over it, all the plants are dead. 'Redpoll' triggered the rage in 2016 when I bought it from Hartside Nursery (source of most of the madness) at the AGS summer show in Wimborne. In their catalogue for 1995 (I have been resisting petiolarid primulas for a very long time) they say: "(previously listed as petiolaris LS19856 but thought to be a hybrid with P. boothii) One of the best, rich deep red buds and rich purple-red flowers. Dark flat rosettes. Early flowering, excellent plant for peat garden or for show. We only have a few of this plant which was originally introduced in 1949 from East Sikkim by Ludlow and Sherriff." Writing in 1954, Mrs Knox Finlay says: "Primula petiolaris (L&S 19856) is now established with us from a 'flown home' plant received in November, 1949. It was a three crowned plant in perfect condition with each heart full of buds that looked as if they would burst into bloom at any moment. It was potted and placed in an unheated greenhouse, it flowered in March 1950 [...} We had to divide the original plant; the divisions sat about in a peat wall bed, and only now have we got really good plants of characteristic form which we expect to flower well into April." Writing about the difficulty of identifying P. petiolaris, John Richards says: "The problem was compounded in 1949 by the introduction of a living plant from east Sikkim (Ludlow and Sherriff 19856, now given the cultivar name 'Redpoll'), which Fletcher named P. petiolaris. This clone, which is still widespread, has rich bluey-purple flowers and is still regharded as the 'true' petiolaris by many respected authorities, although it is sterile, has 21 chromosomes and apparently represents a hybrid with P. boothii." |
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| 22nd February 2018 | ||
