I’ve gotten confused again. I’ve always thought Primrose was a pale yellow, and when I tie up “Greenwell’s Glory”, for example, I don’t have Primrose floss (can’t find it) so I usually use yellow, which is brighter than it probably calls for. Regardless, I’ve been looking at various patterns, and images, etc, both in books and on the web, and I see the pattern for Greenwell’s Glory always calls for Primrose, or even brand specific “Pearsall’s Primrose”. However, the colour of the body in the pictures seems to vary anywhere from similar to my bright yellow, to a pale lemon yellow (that I always thought was correct for some reason), through to a fairly greenish/yellow colour?
Would the real Primrose please stand up, and state your true colour?
Jeff,
Primrose is a pale yellow color, BUT, the original recipe for the Greenwell’s Glory called for primrose silk “well waxed”, which changes the color of the silk.
Steve
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went”-Will Rogers
And, I’ll bet it changes to take on a greenish tinge if you use the “right kind of wax” (presumably bees wax, which might vary depending upon the flowers)
Hi Jeff,
Trouble with ‘Primrose’ is it means different things to different people.
If you are talking colour - light or pale yellow.
If you are talking to a gardener or plant collector, have a look at these wild plants -
The domesticated or garden varieties have just about every colour you can think of.
So I suppose the original colour was from the Common Primrose.
I was looking into shades of pens for dyeing hen hackles/threads when I found this info.
ps Just be glad you don’t have to use the German, Dutch or Polish names. lol
Donald/Scotland
[This message has been edited by Donald Nicolson (edited 19 July 2006).]
FYI it is possible to obtain Pearsall’s Primrose in the USA in the gossamer silk (about a 3/0 thread). I believe Hairline dubbing wholesales it so any shop that deals with them should be able to get it. It is indeed a very pale yellow as others have already told you. Unfortunately I have been unable to find primrose floss in the US. Either Pearsall’s don’t make it anymore or it is not imported here.
Hi,
I’ve not found Pearsall’s here in New Zealand, but I’ve not really searched that hard on the web for a local supplier. Still, it is good to know that it can still be found.
If you want the silk for GREENWELLS GLORY use yellow silk PULLED through COBBLERS WAX a couple of times. This gives the correct colour. This is what how it is tyed on this side of the pond.
Personally I use primrose and yellow when I’m tying Greenwells, also I vary the wax I use, it depends on the olive shade I want. I don’t suppose it is carved in stone.
When the fly was first given to Canon Greenwell it was probably yellow and it was a wet fly but since then there have been so many variations, including the dry fly.
Hi,
I have yellow floss and thread, and I have a chunk of bee’s wax somewhere. I’ll try waxing with that to see if it creates a colour change. I suspect it will. I’ve not heard of cobblers wax, but there is a shoe repair shop across the road from where I live. I’ll check there to see if they carry any. Thanks for all the information.
I have seen some soft-hackle flies tied with Primrose, and the effect
( to my eyes ) were that the very light yellow thread when wrapped over a bronze hook produced an almost pinkish-beige color in the body.
Similar to the color of the background on this FAOL page.
The tyer attested to the effectiveness of this color.
