Primula bulleyana 'Ceperley Hybrid' of the Primula Family - Primulaceae

I found a reference to this plant - Primula bulleyana 'Ceperley Hybrid' of the Primula Family - Primulaceae - at the Vancouver Archives. Does it have anything to do with the Ceperley family and their home at Deer Lake in Burnaby? Can anyone tell me what the connection is?

thanks

 

Denise,

The "Ceperley Hybrids" are named for the plantings at Ceperley Picnic (near Second Beach) in Stanley Park. The primulas involved include (at least) P. bulleyana, P. pulverulenta P. helodoxa and P. beesiana. These candelabra type primulas all cross easily and seed collected from any of the "species" always comes up in a carnival of colours if other species are nearby. Alleyne Cook, who was the gardener in that area of Stanley Park for many years, often planted great drifts of them. The same colourful hybrids show up wherever different coloured candelabra species are grown. For example, check out Harlow Carr primulas (from the English RHS Garden, Harlow Carr), which are virtually identical to the Ceperley hybrids.

In the Asian Garden at UBC, Peter Wharton always planted a variety of primulas in moist, shaded locations. These have produced similar hybrid swarms (if I'm not mis-using that term), and I'm always torn between keeping them for their customer appeal or roguing them out to keep the species "pure." The answer (I guess) is to separate the species from each other and the hybrids, and enjoy them all. Primulas are exceptionally good garden plants here, although they tend to disappear without summer irrigation, and the candelabra types are very long flowering in our cool, wet spring climate.

 

Maybe move some of the better hybrids across Marine Drive to the main garden and keep only pure species in the Lam Garden.