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Spider[_3_] · 02-05-2012, 01:48 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 01/05/2012 22:46, wrote:
In ,
wrote:

Hope you can see this link. Third pic down on the right shows red
cowslips. The 'Description' suggests that red cowslips occur naturally,
although rarely.

Yes - that's the one I found. I am 99% sure that the original form
in my garden was NOT a red cowslip as such, though God alone knows
what it started out as. There are a few plants I still have that
date from the originals and are probably old varieties that are
almost unknown today. Nothing of national importance, but I keep
them on because - well, you know.

Incidentally, the red I had wasn't all that attractive, because it
was brownish - the yellow was and is a lot better.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I should have guessed you'd have a good google first.

I can't imagine where the brown colouring comes from. There are a few
brownish-reds in the auricula group, but that seems an unlikely source
for your intriguing cowslips. I do agree that the yellow is the better
colour. They've been a favourite of mine since childhood.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay