Red hot primula

After a great day yesterday I suppose I should have expected a rather more gloomy one today. Dull, with some drizzle this morning, so I've been trying to write an article for the Oban Times which will attempt to show the views of 'Keep Oban Beautiful' on Oban's rather poor environmental record. I'm constantly surprised to see posts on Facebook from visitors or ex-residents who write in exaggerated tones of how Oban is the most beautiful town they've ever seen, of how much they want to come back, how they would like to live here! 

I find myself wondering if I'm seeing a completely different place. Do they not notice the dereliction, the graffiti, the broken rubbish bins, the collapsing walls, the pot-holed roads, the trees growing out of hotel gutters - all these things which drive me mad! I can only assume that a) I'm very fussy, b) people only see what they want to see or c) they stick to the seafront and harbour which is probably the best bit. 

Anyway, enough of the moaning. On the lookout for a Blip today I noticed that my five pots of Primula vialii are in flower. I tried for a group picture, but they were too far apart or too varying in height. This Chinese species is quite spectacular, but not always the most persistent perennial - I'm pleased that these plants have come through the winter. They're quite hardy, but are more likely to rot off. I'm always tempted to split them up, but this time I'm either going to find somewhere to plant them out or maybe pot them up slightly to increase the size of the clumps ready to plant out next year. I see that the seed I sowed earlier this year is germinating, so maybe I shall be lucky and grow a lot more. 

I've already lost the white form, 'Alison Holland', twice, but I'm tempted to try again and give them more protection in winter.