{"id":3145,"date":"2019-05-09T16:23:44","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T15:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/?p=3145"},"modified":"2019-05-09T16:30:07","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T15:30:07","slug":"james-smallwood-auriculas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grayshottgardeners.net\/?p=3145","title":{"rendered":"James Smallwood: Auriculas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A mini Florists\u2019 Feast awaited Grayshott Gardeners members when James Smallwood, accompanied by his wife Nicola, brought along part of his collection of Auriculas to show and sell at the May lecture evening. James is an excellent speaker and his enthusiasm for these attractive and interesting colourful plants was obvious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At Chelsea with Alan Titmarsh<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Originally\nfound in the Alps and Dolomites, Auriculas featured in this country\nas early as the 1700s when growers of these plants gathered at\nso-called Florists\u2019 Feasts, contests held in public houses and\nhalls all over England, to show off their skills in breeding new\nvarieties. The traditional prize was a copper kettle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The\nwide-ranging palette of colours and markings is partly due to the\ncombination of acid and lime-loving ancestry, and partly to a\npeculiarity unique to Auriculas: the icing-sugar like covering on\nleaves and\/or petals called farine. When this forms a tight circle in\nthe centre, it is called a paste. It remains a great mystery as to\nwhat purpose the farine serves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James\nhad the privilege of working together with grower Bill Lockyer, a\nmultiple gold medal winner at Chelsea, a tradition his son Simon\ncontinued last year by winning another Gold Medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n