Phyl, I think it depends on whether you like to grow plants from seeds this late in the season. Personally I don't. For me there are tooo many other chores right now in the garden so germinating seeds becomes a problem. I know many people who grow their seedlings all year along and have great results. Yes, if you get seeds now, you still get good germination as all genus primulacea likes to germinate on the cool side- hot temps are not for them. We still have plenty of cool chilly nights left so germination by itself is not a problem. You will get seedlings ready to planted in couple of months and may even get some to bloom in the fall. You will get beauties come next spring. Or get them for next cycle of WS.

Would 'Velvet moon' be the primula you're looking for? The cowhichan primulas originated on Vancouver Island and they have the foliage you've described. I have 'Velvet Moon' which was bred and selected by Dr. John Kerridge it's a large deep velvety red with a tiny yellow center, the foliage has a maroon edge on it. I don't know who sells cowichan primula seed in the states, Thompson and Morgan used to and I know you can buy seed in England. If you can't find 'Velvet Moon' I'm sure you can come pretty close with seed in the red shades. Annette Here is a link that might be useful: Velvet Moon

I find the changing topic and confusion interesting since 4 or 5 varieties of the evening primrose grow wild on my land. Telling the O speciosa from the O kunthiana can be hard.. It is confusing out there in the front field. Normal wild Oenothera Kuntianas are a paler pink than this magenta creation which has been hybridized and jerked with. The OP plant is not representative of the wild plants around here. The spreading characteristic of O. speciosa will drive the orderly gardener bonkers but the one who likes to work with plant characteristics in their design will appreciate this and the accidents that enrich garden.. My first garden that I saw with it used years and years ago was a really sensitive example of plant characteristics used appropriately. It was a tall bluff with a rock wall about 6' tall and the "lawn"(I use that term loosely) rose in a grade above i the wall. The owner mowed the grass pretty short in early spring and the grass grew and the EP grew up through it and the rocks on the wall making a beautiful cascading effect and covering the grass completely where it grew . Then as summer drew near it disappeared and the owner mowed her grass again. It made me search it out years ago and , believe me, at the time it was not very available in the trade, except by raiding the fields. I got my start from her of the tall bluff. Here in Texas The pink Oenotheras are "spring ephemeral of sorts. It goes dormant and disappears with the beginning of EARLY summer.. SO do not get this plant and expect it to last through the summer. This is its behavior in Texas. Maybe it's behavior is different in Concord New Hampshire or Lansing Michigan. Heat does make it go away till the next year..Also the caterpillars love to eat its foliage. They are long gone in my garden right now. I like the idea for this "does your garden look like your character Thread". YES, YES AND YES. Mine is as disorderly as I am, absolutely.Good thread idea. I think that all should have tolerance of the latin name/common name confusions. Besides, Those latin names change with the mounting regularity these days pushed by the committees of arguing scientists. They do help but there is as much name confusions in them as there is in the common names. Eupatorium, ageratatina, conoclinium , what is it? I asked a salvia guy was it Salvia Reptans or Salvia leptophylla . It seemed like a simple question but he could not give me a simple answer because he did not know what one was the days right one today. The committees were't clear in their last statement... We can educate people to loose their fear of the mysterious latin name. and we can be tolerant of those like me who abuse all language that is given them. I think it is a mark of an intelligent person who is fluid and fills in the blanks and looks for the intended meaning , even when it is through muddy waters. - Mara, Queen of the Maraprop ( I mean malaprop)

To know "everything" is a tall order. a) Plants: Flowers that do very well here include: calendula, nasturium, montana centurea, marigold [if you can keep the slugs away], impatiens, lobelia Shrubs: all berries [blueberries, red currant, raspberry, etc.]; rhodedendron [I have one about 13 feet x 13 feet high, planted it about 27 years ago] Trees: I've planted 'exotics' like Douglas Fir and birch; each is about 25 feet high now, roughly 1 ft per year of age, but I started with 5 year olds; more usual are alder and hemlock Edibles: peas and zuchini do well; I've been experimenting with cool-weather tomatoes; the winners on taste so far are TUMBLER and BALCONI for cherry-size; those were known to local gardeners; my own trials also turned up SILETZ as a great tasting [sweet/tart] 1.5" diameter, will grow outside. An inside grower almost as tasty, slightly thick skin, was SWISS ALPINE. Some grow carrots, others potatoes; a few try corn, even. Variables: Local micro-climates, even yards away, can be quite different, depending mostly on whether a site gets light all day long, as the run rotates AROUND the sky, not across it, or only during part of the day. We get a lot of rain, often 100" per year, and nights [let alone days] are rarely over 60 degrees, so necessary for corn or tomato [most varieties]. Social seasons: We have 3 seasons here: legislative, from January to May, tourist, from late April to late September [cruise ship tourism has EXPLODED here, rising from about 230,000 annually in 1990, to about 900,000 in 2005], and dead, which some call 'local', from late September until January, however, lots of parties in early December, before people leave for the holiday Outside [as Alaskans call everywhere else] or in the Lower 48. The Juneau Advantage: Juneau is an interesting mix of coast and mountain; we have 16-ft tides twice daily, which is pretty dramatic, sometimes more than others, and mountains not so high--3500 to 4,000 ft--but quite close to town, rising rapidly from the quiet Channel [connects to the Pacific, but actually IS pacific [calm] most of the time. Juneau is also, because it is the Capital, a mix of town type jobs [many still in Government, but in summer, in tourism also] and very much outdoors--in 5-10 minutes walk, you can be outside of sight of human habitation, depending on where you start and where you go. Like many capital cities [Washington DC for example], there is a 'political' life for some, which others--perhaps in retail trades, say--largely ignore. Juneau has quite a high education level, many here have Master's degrees, or used to, or more, and, if both partners work for government, quite a number of families have incomes over $100,000 annually ... but again, life can be very different and more difficult for those in retail or not in government. Federal govt jobs esp. pay best now; then State govt, then city...or so it's said, no guarantee. Disadvantages: Housing prices have skyrocketed here in the past two years, as elsewhere across the country, because of the low interest rates that let to overbuilding and high demand for building materials and skills. The State seems about to waste a roughly $1 Billion surplus from oil revenue, oh, I mean 'intelligently spend on development projects'...instead of saving even half in the Permanent Fund [that pays dividends to each Alaskan and that really IS the biggest economic help to Alaska]. We used to have about the same number of bars as churches, but I think that, with the passage 10-15 years ago, of the automatic 3 days in jail for first offense drunk driving [DUI, DWI], the number of bars has gone down, and we still have about 1 church per 1,000 people, and, as we have 33,000 people or so, that's a lot of churches. But Juneau is now much more segmented, or divided into subcultures, than it was in 1971 when I got here. There are 5-6 radio stations, when there used to be two, and 3 broadcast TV stations, and many more on cable, when then there was 1 [that played tapes from Seattle, that came up by barge about 6 weeks late]. Now people shop at Costco, Fred Meyers and a Home Depot and a Wal Mart are due shortly, when in 1971 everyone lived out of catalogs and had to plan 6 weeks in advance. Then, after you'd been intown a year, you knew 1/3 of all the 13,000 people; now, you still see many you know, but many also that you do not. We are essentially an 'island' in that no roads connect anywhere. People usually drive 10,000 miles annually on the 40 miles of road we do have, and there are said to be more cars than people. Go figure. We had a great bus system, though it's been cut back some. Some wish there to be a connecting road, just because; others note that we average about 1 bank robbery every 10-15 years, regular as clockwork [no where to escaped to, you see]. We have great service--at equally great [high] prices--from our monopoly airline; in the old C.A.B. days, we had two airlines, go figure. Of course, back then, the State library was open all day; now, with all our oil billions, it's open only in the afternoons. Much that we seemed to do OK when we were poor, we can no longer afford now that we are 'rich'. But we do have the Permanent Fund, about $33 Billion now, which pays out half its earnings in equal shares to each Alaskan resident a year or more [well, most of 'em] ... until the Legislature or Governor 'raids' the Fund??? Hmmm... Mind, I am not speaking as formally representing any of many groups to which I belong, just as a gardener. We had a fine fellow as Extension Agent; he moved recently, hope the new one is as good. However, that service thinks mulching won't work here, and I tried dried young glass clippings, before the dandelions had bloomed, and it worked just fine [green 'manure', no horse or cow involved]. Some people bury rotting salmon in gardens, or bury kelp washed with fresh water.... Enough info for now? Ask for details....which I may not know!!