Spring is in the air and some of the more brave wild Irishprimroses are peeping through their winter foliage.On St Patricks Day 2013 a new primrose will heraldspringtime in Washington. A special Irish primrose has beennamed in honour of the maternal ancestral village of USAPresident Barack Obama.
The first plants of the primrosenamed Primula Moneygall are already growing locally inUSA and now waiting for introduction to the Whitehousegarden. This new Irish primrose variety will be gifted toPresident and Mrs Obama, during their state visit, by AnTaoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Mr Enda Kenny and his wife MrsFionnuala Kenny on St Patricks Day 2013.For millennia in Ireland flowering of the wild primrose has been one of the first natural signs of progression from winter to spring. The humble primrose has given rise to positive and varied primrose folklore.
Primula Moneygall has similar flower, colour and habit as our native Irish primrose. Along with anumber of other new Irish primroses now available worldwide Moneygall has been raised from oldIrish varieties through many years of conservation, breeding and selection work by Joe Kennedy andPat FitzGerald. This variety through its natural simplicity and profuse combination of single, poly andhose-in-hose flower formations is a natural spring treat in garden containers, borders or otherplanting situations. The Moneygall Primrose is ideal for mass planting in garden, park, village or townplanting schemes. This new primrose variety is winter hardy and canbe planted in autumn or spring and will look well with spring floweringbulbs such as crocus and snowdrop.
We hope this selected primrose variety heralds a new spring for us allin 2013 and enhances the joys of spring in the Whitehouse garden forgenerations to come. Primula Moneygall will be available as as anaddition to the current range of Irish primroses from autumn 2013.
Source: Scribd – A New Irish Primrose for the Whitehouse Garden
