Primula auricula, Alpine House at RHS Wisley. Now this is a group of plants you could really get obsessed about – and many have – with such a range of colour and form.
Primulas, the garden centre variety, are just coming into Syon now and while I could grow to love the auricula (we might have Gold Lace Group, but this seems to be about the only one regularly available), something simple like Primula veris (cowslip) will always be beautiful and easy to naturalise in a garden setting. The RHS ‘A-Z’ Encyclopedia of Garden Plants devotes 7 pages to the genus Primula, covering candelabra, auricula, primrose and polyanthus groups. So much choice in this diverse family of perennial.
The Teddington Gardener 