#Auricula plant professional

Not surprisingly, in general the more ‘complex’ and prized the variety, the more difficult it is to grow and the more high-maintenance it is. These supremely ornamental plants come at a price, however. ‘Basic’ or ‘complex’, one way or another Auriculas are highly ornamental plants that bear showy flowers – and ultra-showy or ‘show-offy’ flowers in view of their unique and complex patterns, extraordinary palette, and countless colour combinations. “Some plants have a white or yellow powder called the farina coating the leaves and, on occasion, the flower.”

#Auricula plant professional

The ‘basic’, simplest types are identified by the flowers’ velvety appearance, white central disc and bi-tonal gradation on the corolla, as professional gardener Roy Nicol shares: Some of these, for example, Primula ‘Cinnamon’, could even be mistaken for a type of rose.ĭouble Auriculas claim among them a few of the rare flowers that come in leaf green, and have pure black colouration.Īs for the single types, the descriptor ‘salver’ is a particularly apt one, for a large number of varieties resemble hand-painted miniature porcelain crockery.

Solitary or umbels of salver-shaped flowers in pink, purple, yellow, white and dark green

They occur as salver-shaped single flowers and complex, ruffled double flowers. Their diverse varieties mean that these herbaceous perennials are perfect for beds and borders but also for greenhouse cultivation and decorative planters.Ĭenturies of such cross-breeding and confusion mean that – though there may or may not be such a thing as an ‘Auricula Society’ or a ‘Primula Society’ – there is such a thing as the ‘Auricula and Primula Society’ – several of them, in fact. Auriculas produce flowers in an amazing array of colours and patterns, from essentially ‘block colour’ blooms in bright cheery tones through to highly intricate patterns comprising of daubs, stripes, and gradations in hues both diffuse and striking.