{"id":8391,"date":"2022-03-07T15:55:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T14:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardensillustrated.com\/?p=74833"},"modified":"2022-03-07T16:12:20","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T15:12:20","slug":"auriculas-how-to-grow-auriculas-and-the-best-auriculas-to-plant","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/auriculas-how-to-grow-auriculas-and-the-best-auriculas-to-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Auriculas: how to grow auriculas and the best auriculas to plant"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Richard Bloom\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 07 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Woottens<\/a>, in the flat lands of Suffolk at Wenhaston, five miles from the sea, was founded in 1990 by Michael Loftus, who was much admired as a plantsman. In 2016, four years after he died, his widow sold the nursery to two women who, from working with Loftus, had absorbed much of his knowledge, and shared his particular interest in irises, pelargoniums, hemerocallis and auriculas.<\/p>\n

Auriculas are fussy, and for these they have some help from Gillian\u2019s partner Jenny Stafford \u2013 in the past, the propagation was done by Sandra Sutton, who bred more than 30 of Woottens\u2019 own hybrids. After the polytunnel collapsed during a storm in 2018, it had to be reclad and it took a couple of seasons to rebuild the collection. In 2020, however, they bought the Drointon collection of 2,000 show auriculas, and now Woottens is one of the best places to buy auriculas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nWhat are auriculas?<\/h2>\n
In the 18th and 19th centuries, auriculas were among the most popular plants collected by members of the English Florists\u2019 Societies, and they remain popular with collectors to this day. Although the alpine<\/a> auriculas are generally robust enough to grow in borders<\/a>, Luci and Gillian believe both show and alpine auricula types are best grown in individual pots, and perhaps displayed in a traditional Auricula Theatre, where the vast array of different flowers in wonderful colours can be fully appreciated.<\/p>\n
How to grow auriculas<\/h2>\n
Root aphids have recently been a nuisance to growers of auriculas, so I wanted to learn how they manage their plants. Gillian says these picky alpines hate being too wet, but they also don\u2019t like being too dry in summer, because root aphids thrive in dry conditions.<\/p>\n
Many growers divide their plants after flowering, but life on the nursery is too busy, so their plants are usually divided in July to August. When root aphids strike, it involves removing all the compost and then washing the roots with horticultural soap.<\/p>\n
The plants get a root feed high in phosphorous and very low in nitrogen in early February, and a potassium feed to encourage flowers a fortnight later and then every two weeks. Woottens use a compost<\/a> that is 50 per cent peat substitute, 25 per cent grit or perlite and 25 per cent loam, such as John Innes, with some added slow-release fertiliser.<\/p>\n
Auriculas grow in the crevices of rocks, so they do not like being overpotted. Ideally, they should be in a shady east-facing site, with protection from wet in winter.<\/p>\n
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