Primula x pubescens 'Favourite'

Horticultural cultivar of the Primula x pubescens group, an alpine-origin hybrid resulting from the cross between Primula auricula and Primula hirsuta, family Primulaceae. Like the entire group, it finds its roots in European horticultural selections made from these two alpine species.

'Favourite' is a perennial forming a low and very compact rosette, reaching 8 to 12 cm in height in bloom. What immediately strikes is the exceptionally farinose foliage, a silvery white-gray almost mineral, which entirely covers the fleshy and rounded leaves with a slightly crenate margin. This characteristic, strongly reminiscent of the influence of Primula auricula, is here pushed to a rare degree in the group and constitutes the most distinctive trait of the cultivar.

The flowers, borne in short umbels on sturdy stems, are a bright and vivid red, with a clear and well-defined white eye, centered with a golden yellow dot. The contrast between the pure red of the petals, the white of the eye, and the silvery gray of the foliage is particularly striking. In cultivation, flowering occurs in April-May.

The abundant farina covering the foliage calls for particular care in watering, which must be done at the base to avoid degrading this indument. Cultivation in a pot under an open cold shelter, in a very well-drained substrate, is ideal for preserving both the foliage and the plant in winter.