The Theatrical Beauty of the Auricula

The Walled Nursery at Hawkhurst is very good at arranging events to encourage repeat visits to the nursery. The most recent was an Auricula Event with one of the nicest displays I’ve ever seen of these delicate beauties – it wasn’t expensively done (basically a black box with tiered shelving) and some of the plants were in plastic pots, but the flowers just sang out. Every now and again I succumb and buy some, but I really don’t have the right conditions (or the time) to give them the attention the require. They need to be kept cool and pretty dry all winter – a north-facing cold frame with ventilation is ideal. It’s not surprising that their origin is as ‘Florist’s Flowers’ that were grown by Flemish weavers in their backyards. They were often the only plants they grew so they could lavish them with attention – and there was always the chance that they could breed a valuable prize winning plant. I won’t embarrass myself with a photo of my rather feeble flowerless auriculas.