The seedlist now has just 45 available from the original 168 listings so if you've not got around to placing your order, now would be a good time to do that. Stocks are dwindling on those seeds still listed as not sold out. Once more the seedlist has been a success not only in sharing seeds far and wide, but also in recruiting new members. It's still possible to use the paypal button to join the society and place your order by using the links below. The seedlist might close around mid February this year.

This year's seedlist is to be the last one created for this website by Henry Pugh. This website has been maintained by Henry on behalf of the Society since the early days of the World Wide Web way back in 2001 on a voluntary basis. Once again this year, members from far and wide have donated seed and, once again, there are new donors with offerings not previously seen. Henry will be a hard act to follow, fortunately he is mentoring a new website maintainer.

Henry's introductory words for last year's seed list bear repetition "Each year thousands of the seeds from well over a hundred crosses are donated to form our Seed List. They introduce members to the joys of raising primulas and new varieties of auricula and sustain and promote interest in these special plants. From the donor's viewpoint the seeds seem to just disappear into oblivion and are rarely heard of again. Some seed, I imagine inevitably falls on stony ground but most, I trust, are successfully grown at least to first flowering with a few quality seedlings selected and kept possibly for display, showing or future breeding." One bit of personal feedback from the 2018 Seed Distribution was: "I built 2 frames to house 300+ plants from ten packets of seed and the anticipation of their flowering is high! " Another was:"Some varieties (including Barbican, Fairy Light and Night and Day) seem to be highly fertile and produce a lot of seed with often excellent germination."

Henry was pleased to see one of his seedlings grown by a beginner win Best Overall Seedling in 2017 and in 2018 Henry won Best in Section 5 'Fancy Auriculas' with S1840, as well as accumulating the most points at the Knowle Auricula show, all from his seedlings. This reminded me to take a note of the donor for my records when sowing seed. I have a few promising seedlings from the 2017 seedlist that were donated by Cherille Hebdon and Bob Middleton.

If the uploading of the 2019 Seed List, reminds you that you've forgotten to note down the donor for your last years seed, contact us, as there is an archive.

Last years addition of a Paypal button for paying a year's subscription located at the bottom of the Membership page was a success. The simplified order form worked well. Just remember if you really want a couple of packets of seed from the same cross try listing the Reference Number twice, but be aware that, given the limited quantity of seed available for nearly all crosses and the usual demand, your chances of getting more than one are not high.

If you're unsure how to go about sowing the seeds there is a Guide to Growing Auriculas from Seed on hand to help members new to raising seedlings.

Malcolm Wright

Updated 21st of February 2019