Japanese Primrose

Japanese Primrose

Primula japonica 'Miller's Crimson'

(PRIM-yew-luh) (juh-PON-ih-kuh)

Forget-Me-Not

Myosotis sylvatica

(my-oh-SO-tis) (sil-VAT-ee-kuh)

It was kind of a happy accident to have these flowers line up together. The garden is literally covered with the Primroses in spring after we have been gently encouraging into seeding in various areas. The Forget me nots are left over from a huge patch we grew a couple of years ago from seed. It is a classic combination that started out from a dozen Primroses and a big bag of seed that someone gave me. The flowers look a lot better than mulch and have been colonizing a lot of tough wet areas.

Asiatic Primrose

Asiatic Primrose
Primula capitata 'Salvana'
(PRIM-yew-luh) (kap-ih-TAY-tuh)
Synonyms: Capitata Primula

Japanese Primrose

Japanese Primrose
Primula japonica 'Miller's Crimson'
(PRIM-yew-luh) (juh-PON-ih-kuh)

This is a few of the thousands of Primroses blooming at work right now. They have had an exceptional year. It all started from a dozen plants of ‘Miller’s Crimson’. They have been seeding themselves and with a little help from me colonizing new areas. It was all part of a plan to use Primrose, Forget-me-not and Black-eyed Susans as groundcover to cut down the amount of mulch we have to spread. The results have surpassed my wildest dreams.

This plant is usually a biennial so the originals are long gone but sometimes the plants seem to last a couple of years. They get to about 16 to 24 inches tall and have a nicely textured leaf. Primroses like their moisture and do better in moist areas.

Pacific Giant Primrose

Pacific Giant Primrose
Primula x polyantha ‘Pacific Giant’
(PRIM-yew-luh)

Nikon D80 Flower Shots

Nikon D80 Flower Shots

A couple of Sundays ago I borrowed my wife’s D80 and stopped by work to shoot a few pictures. It was a dreary day and the light wasn’t great but the camera did pretty well with the color. I usually use a D70s and I know what that camera is going do in a given situation so this was a little bit of adventure getting use to the color and auto focus system. This first picture is a small pocket of White Primula that is growing near one of the ponds. Out of several thousand Primrose there were only about 12 white ones and only in this area.



The second picture is Wine and Roses Weigela (Weigela florida 'Alexandra'). It is a nice plant that adds beauty not only with its dark reddish/brown foliage but also with its pink flowers. The foliage almost as a metallic appearance when it is new. I use this plant a lot and found it to reliable and interesting. I forget which Japanese Maple that is in the background but it is a beauty and adds a bit a contrast to this photo.

This photo is of ‘Abraham Darby’ a David Austin Rose. I am posting it because it was just so super spectacular this season. I read that this rose is suppose to apricot but can be pink with yellow highlights. Mine certainly falls into the latter category. At one time it had about 50 or 60 flowers on it. After that it bounced back nicely and rebloomed quickly. It has a nice scent and the bush appears to be disease resistant.



Today is my first Saturday off in a long time and of course I am going out for a few pictures. I guess I will wander towards New York but don’t have a set agenda in mind.

To sum it up briefly the D80 appears to be a very nice camera that shoots a nice big picture. I really need to use it more before I can say more. I really have my eye on a D200 but it will be a while before I upgrade. These pictures were shot with the 60mm Nikkor-Micro lens.

Doublefile Viburnum
Viburnum plicatum 'Newport'
(vy-BUR-num)
Caprifoliaceae


This is one of my favorite Viburnum. A dwarf form of the Doublefile Viburnum it has attained about a 4 foot by 4 foot size after 10 years. It is a reliable bloomer that has great fall color. It takes one of the most annoying characteristics of Doublefile Viburnum out of play, which is they often get way too big for where they are planted. When a Doublefile is planted in the wrong place it requires a lot of pruning, which ruins the arching graceful shape of the branches. I am on a big planting job in Westport (I’m actually a sub-contractor on this job) and they planted 7 or 8 huge Doublefiles along the road two years ago. Of course they were too close to the road and had to be pruned. Tomorrow I have to rip them out because they had completely lost their shape. I have my eye on two of them for my house but it is a story that I have had to deal with many times.

Here are a couple of Primula shots. I grow a way better Primula then I take a picture of a Primula. There were several thousand at the estate this year. Some of them are still going and I had some interesting color variations. I find them very frustrating to photograph.



Of course the almost requisite abstract view.
This was taken with the 60mm at the minimum focusing distance.
Blogger doesn't seem to want to let me upload photos. It is the first bug I have had in a while. I had to use Photobucket and that is why these pictures are a little off size-wise.





Newport Viburnum has several synonyms:
Nanum Newport, Newzam, Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum 'Newport'