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December 2004 Telesonix jamesii November 2004 Ranunculus eschscholtzii October 2004 Crocus speciosus September 2004 Arenaria 'Wallowas' August 2004 Scilla autumnalis July 2004 Leontopodium souliei June 2004 Penstemon pinifolius May 2004 Draba rigida v. bryoides April 2004 Vitaliana primuliflora March 2004 Clematis hirsutissima February 2004 Lewisia pygmaea January 2004 Hymenoxis grandiflora Archive 2003 Archive 2002 Archive 2001 Archive 2000 Archive 1999 Archive 1998 Archive 1997

Plant of the Month April 2004 Vitaliana primuliflora by Chuck Griffith Vitaliana primuliflora is a genus unto itself although a number of academics, with too much time on their hands, have moved a number of other species into and out of this genus. Vitaliana is a member of the popular Primulaceae family and is named after Vonati Vitaliano (1717-1762), a botanist in Turin Italy. The family includes the mouth watering genera: Androsace, Cyclamen, Dionysia, Dodecatheon, Douglasia, Primula, Soldanella, the lonely Vitaliana and some other garden friendly plants. V. primuliflora has variously been named Douglasia primuliflora, Androsace vitaliana, Gregoria vitaliana and Primula vitaliana by the aforementioned academics. Pity the poor gardener who bought all of those thinking they were different... but not too much pity because this is a plant to rejoice over. This species originates in a range from the balmy south of Spain to the moderate Pyrenees to the frosty French/Swiss/Italian Alps to the middle of the boot of Italy, from altitudes of 5,500' to 12,000' (1,700 - 3,500 m). It usually avoids limestone. Note: Visit Erick Dronnet's website for more of this photographer's work. Vitaliana primuliflora has a carpeting mounding shape to it, with dense 'pine-like' branches (to use an unsophisticated term) like the best Androsaces or Douglasias. The flowers are sessile with the 5 petaled, tubed, heterostylus (having both short - "thrum" and long styles - "pin") characteristic of primulas, hence the name and the indecisiveness on how to classify it. The strong-yellow petals are as long as the tube, 0.4 -0.6" (10 - 15mm) and curl upwards like a crowd of tiny swimmers' hands reaching above the water. Perhaps they are just being polite, leaving room for their neighbor's petals. Enthusiastic flowering covers the older sections of the plant and occurs in the early spring after the earliest drabas but before next month's feature: Draba rigida v. bryoides. Unless you have a very early garden tour, you really need to invite people for this precious event. V. primuliflora wants very well drained soil to withstand humidity and is hardy without much snow cover to zone 4 (or what used to be zone 4). It works well in a trough, trumping many of its shy neighbors. If planted in limestone rocks it does not complain. Propagation is easy by cuttings or splitting off rooted sections.