The National Primrose Show – The Winners

This past weekend, the National Primrose Society Show was hosted by our local chapter, the New England Primula Society at Tower Hill Botanic Garden near our home in Boylston, Massachusetts. Ask any attendee who entered plants, and they will all tell you the same thing, that this year, the season is late, and as of a week ago, many were still concerned if the last of the snow would melt, let alone their concerns about any of their primroses being in bloom. A large genus, the truth is that many alpine Primroses bloom just after snowmelt, while woodland species bloom a month or so later. A typical spring show would normally see benches with dozens of Polyanthus and Primula veris, but this year, it was nice to see earlier, more unusual alpine primroses – the sort we rarely see at these shows.

AN AWARD WINNING ENTRY OF A PRIMULA ALLIONII GROWN AND EXHIBITED BY MARY MALLOY FROM UPSTATE NEW YORK. WE ALL WERE IMPRESSED BY THE NUMBER OF FLOWERS THIS WINNER HAD OPEN.

THE NATIONAL BEST IN SHOW, AN AURICULA SELF, GROWN BY MARIANNE KUCHEL WHO GROWS HER FABULOUS PRIMULA AT HER HOME IN VERMONT.

MARIANNE KUCHEL ALSO WON A DIVISION WITH THIS FINE PAN OF PRIMULA DENTICUALTA, THE DRUMSTICK PRIMROSE.

SUSAN SCHNARE, A NEW HAMPSHIRE MEMBER WHO HAS MASTERED THE CULTURE OF AURICULA PRIMROSES, WON A DIVISION AND A A RUNNER-UP BEST OF SHOW WITH HER ENTRY ‘PARADISE YELLOW’

A FEW AURICULA’S GROWN BY JUDITH SELLERS.

So, where were my primroses? Well, after hosting the party and the guest speaker the night before, I got up at 5:30 to start digging and potting some entries, but I arrived too late ( judging had already started), so I just used them to decorate the membership table where they still received lots of attention by the many visitors over the weekend.

My tray of 6 species had many nice comments, but today, I had to replant them back into the garden. Maybe next year, I will  pot up plants earlier, like everyone else. I just wanted to keep as many in the garden for our party the night before, and possible.