Thirty-three members and guests of the Barony Gardening Club gathered in their new venue, Kirkmichael Hall, Parkgate, to hear an illustrated talk from club member Jeanie Jones entitled “Primulas I have seen in the wild”
Jeanie has been extraordinarily energetic in her plant-hunting interests. Between 2006 and 2017 she had joined groups of like-minded individuals, venturing to Yunnan (China), Bhutan, Tibet, Turkey, Arunachal Pradesh (India), Sichuan (China) and Sikkim (India). Their “hunting” aspects do not involve removal. No plant material is ever taken away from its habitat. Instead, they are there to observe, photograph and document findings.
Another aspect of their expeditions is the wet. It is only possible to observe primulas in flower in the monsoon period. After that they set seed and wither as the dry season takes over. Jeanie described how she would climb in to her sleeping bag at night and hope she would be dry by the morning.
Jeanie had many photographs of primulas – some rare, some common, some widespread, some very localised. Some are minute; and to give a sense of scale she placed a tooth pick next to them in the photograph. Primula glabra (grey-violet) could be found at a range of altitudes. P bellidifolia (pale blue) was found on glacial moraines. P polyneura (pink-purple) they found in only one location. Some valley floors were covered in the yellow P sikkimensis.
Over-grazing in areas of Tibet had denuded the wild flower populations; and the extensive road-building in parts of Yunnan had restricted populations of P beesiana (purple with yellow eyes). In some cases primula species retained their identity because their populations were separated by a mountain range – another good reason for plant hunters to observe their code of conduct.
Jeanie explained that the variation in flower colour on the same plant would likely be due to the bleaching effect of sunlight, the older flowers appearing paler. The sunshine is very strong at these altitudes.
Another sensible message Jeanie conveyed to the audience was to make a habit of sharing our plant collections. If we have a rare plant – or even a national collection – and through some unforeseen intervention lose it then it is lost to all. Other gardeners may have better luck.
The next meeting will be the AGM combined with a social evening of refreshments and plant sales. This will be held at Kirkmichael Hall, Parkgate at 7.15pm on Thursday, November 7. All welcome.