I smiled when I saw that the National Trust had filled their auricula theatre at Calke Abbey with primroses, as I'd had the same idea and just bought a beautiful laced primrose (darkest wine and gold) and potted it into a long terracotta pot to create my own early harbinger of spring. I have two real auricula's but they won't be flowering for a fair while yet.Spring may be coming but although it was sunny when I walked by the river today the wind still had a biting edge.
