Match your friends to an auricula name.

When giving a plant as a gift to a friend, I have always enjoyed trying to match up the name of the plant to the recipient.
I thought I would put together a selection of ideas for Primula Auricula which have some wonderfully varied and inventive descriptive names. 

FOR YOUR FRIEND WHO LOVES ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL:
Bookham Firefly, Chaffinch, Cuckoo Fayre, Eden Goldfinch, Eden Greenfinch, Greenpeace, Green Parrot, Hetty Wolf, Kingfisher, Laverock Fancy (A Laverock is a Lark), Mersey Tiger,  Piglet, Queen Bee, Skylark, Snooty Fox, Snowy Owl, Starling, Tawny Owl, Tay Tiger, The Raven
                         
.... AND ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL:

Autumn Fire, Eden Blue Star, Forest Fire, Moon Glow, Money Moon, Northern Lights, Spring Meadow, Sweet Pastures, Scorcher

 

FOR YOUR DELICIOUS FOODY FRIENDS:
Blackcurrant, Butterwick, Brownie, Caramel, Cherry, Cinnamon, Curlie Wurlie, Curry Blend, Honey, Hopley’s Coffee, Lemon Sherbet, Mandarin, Old Mustard, Pink Fondant, Pumpkin, Rosemary, Salad, Stromboli

FOR THE STYLISH FASHIONISTAS:
Blue Bonnet, Blue Jean, Blue Velvet, Chamois, Doublet, Headdress, Leather Jacket, Pinstripe, Royal Velvet, Taffeta                                                                                                       

FOR YOUR FRIEND THE ROYALIST:
Grey Monarch , Holyrood, Kingcup, Old Gold, Pharaoh, Queen Alexander, Queen Bee, Rajah, Royal Velvet, The Czar

FOR THE ROMANTIC, OR MAYBE FOR SOMEONE YOU WOULD LIKE TO WOO:
Angel Eyes, Blossom, Blush Baby, Cutie Pie, Dark Eyes, Dusky Maiden, Favourite, Lovebird, Rosebud    

FOR THE AFICIONADO OF MYTHS AND LEGENDS:                  
Astolat (Legendary city in Arthurian legends), Excalibur, Fiddler’s Green (Legendary afterlife), Golden Fleece, Golden Hind, Guinea, Nymph, Old England, Old Gold, Remus, Sword
OR SCI-FI / GAME OF THRONES FANS:

Star Wars No 1, Pippin,  Hetty Wolf (ok ok, it’s not a Dire Wolf, but it’s as close as I could get), Queen Bee, Sirius, The Raven

FOR THE ROUGH AND THE TOUGH:
Border Bandit, Charles Bronson, John Wayne, Geronimo, Raleigh Stripe, Red Gauntlet, Rodeo , Sherwood, Super Para, Sword                            

FOR YOUR FAVOURITE CULTURE VULTURE:
Chorister, Doublure (bookbinding), Galen (Greek Philosopher), Marmion (Poem by Walter Scott), Margot Fonteyn, Red Gauntlet (Novel by Walter Scott), Sugar Plum Fairy, Tarentella, Tosca, Wedgewood       


SCOTTISH ROOTS:
Glenelg, Portree, Slioch, Gizabroon (maybe not a real word, but it sounds Scottish to me), Sandwood Bay, Tummel           
ENGLISH HERITAGE:
Butterwick, Southport, Brookfield, Finchfield, Idminston, Lepton’s Jubilee, Minley,  Trafalger Square, Yorkshire Grey, Sherwood, Old Suffolk Bronze, Rabley Heath, Shalford, Southbarrow, Walton Heath                                                                    

IRISH ORIGINS:
Fiddler’s Green, Green Isle, Nantenan, Old Irish Green, Old Irish Scented                                    

FROM WIDER AFIELD:
Brazil, Everest Blue, Mojave, Prague, Zambia        

                            

CHRISTIAN NAMES:

Of course you might hit lucky and have a friend who is a Mary or a Sandra and they can plant a little bit of themselves in the garden.  Here are some more possible match-ups:
Alicia,  Adrian, Beatrice, Helen, Erica, Greta, Joyce, Delilah, Joannie, Ling, Margaret, Mary, Nigel , Peggy, Rene, Rufus, Rosemary, Sandra, Sheila, Sirius, Tim, Trudy, Winifred 

And a lot less likely, but maybe you hit the coincidence jackpot and have a friend with the same name as the original person whom the auricula was named after:
Alice Hayson, Bill Bailey, Bob Lancashire, Douglas Black, Ellen Thompson, Fanny Meerbeck, Fred Booley, Joan Elliot, Karen Cordrey, Lee Paul, Lisa Clara, Lucy Lockett, Margaret Faulkner, Matthew Yates, Neville Telford ,Piers Telford, Rachel Kinnen, Sarah Lodge    

And if nothing else quite matches, why not go with the most simple statement of all:

Primula Auricula My Friend!
 

As a wee disclaimer, I have no idea as to the original eponyms and no offence is intended by my classifications.
CD                       

David Austin Rose Special

After The Show

It is always a little sad as you take down the Auricula theatre for the year.

However, I don’t think the auricula are sad.  By mid-May they enjoy the move to a shady cooler place, and it gives us the chance to do the satisfying job of returning everything to alphabetical order and filling in gaps.

Ah if only life were always that simple.

Looking back, what were the stars of the show this year?
Well amazingly, the greens and the white edged. That’s right, the most difficult put on the best show.

Look at Teem, and Hetty Wolf and Bob Lancashire and Minley. 

Hetty Wolf

Minley

Bob Lancashire

It is an odd business but every year the show stoppers are different.

The spot light is regularly on gold centred alpines, Rodeo and Snooty Fox and Merridale are all so bright as to startle.

Merridale

Rodeo

 In recent years some of the doubles have also been very popular.

Like Mary and Gwen Baker, Fred Booley and Excalibur.

Fred Booley

Gwen Baker

Mary

Excaliber

And then there are the Stripes and Fancies. Fancies are just those flowers no one can quite classify. Look at Lord Saye en Sele and Nantenan. 

Lord Saye en Sele

Nantenan

Finally this year some of the old favourite Border varieties were just wonderful.I have never seen Old Irish Scented looking so well; Paradise Yellow flowered outstandingly for a month and Chamois and Bradmore Bluebell were beautiful enough to inspire poetry.

Old Irish Scented

Paradise Yellow

Bradmore Bluebell

Chamois

Finally we had one late flowering new Border, Cloudy Bay.  Astonishing.

It brings to mind all of that imagery of New Zealand wine and scenery.

Looking forward now to our next holiday and next years Theatre.Margaret