14) Primula, Dodecatheon, Androsace and other Primulaceae

D.'Rotlicht'

First Androsace is open...A. carnea 'Alba'

My first primrose of the season is open. This is Primula 'Windrush'. Primula 'Freedom' and P. marginata are showing colour...this is at least 2 weeks early.

Has anyone grown this species and able to offer advice? I got seeds from the AGS and I'm delighted to say they are germinating. Pictures I've seen of this bright red androsace look stunning!

Or whatever they're calling it now. I thought it would be fun to show off the big mat of this terrific Himalayan growing in Plantasia, the Chinese themed garden at Denver Botanic Gardens. I think most rock gardeners have pretty decent stands of this accommodating plant, of whatever name for the month it's saddled with.

I recently scanned some old slides, and this is one of them. The color is all wrong, and somehow over-exposed, but it does convey the size and majesty of Androsace lanuginosa when it is at its full glory. For over a decade back in the 1980's and early 1990's a small hillside in the Rock Alpine Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens was draped with this outrageous carpet of bloom. It's more or less in full sun.

Androsace chamaejasme is another plant with circumpolar distribution, and ranging into Eurasia. It's common here in the upper montane and alpine zones and does well in the rock garden or trough, too.
The common names - sweet-flowered androsace, rockjasmine - hint at another of its attributes... although it does take some hunkering-down to appreciate its pleasant perfume.

So, my Primula rusbyi, which formerly seemed surprisingly happy despite the dry conditions, have failed to bloom for the last couple of seasons. John Richards, in Primula, notes that the species is "(i)nitially free-flowering, but often languishing in a vegetative state when older". Hmm, sounds familiar - these plants are 8 or 9 years old.
Does anyone have any advice for divisions or possibly cuttings? As non-blooming primulas strike me as being a bit pointless, it seems there is little to lose now.
Thanks in advance.

This is just a historical document: the planting has changed. Although the primula did valiant duty for several years, it was finally deemed too common and vulgar in color and exiled by the then master of the garden. I have snuck a few white flowered Primula japonicas back into this little bog, which gives me great delight (full of Dionaea, Vaccinium, pitcher plants and much more).