The full name of our organization is ‘The American Primrose, Primula, and Auricula Society’, commonly referred to as ‘The American Primrose Society’.
We are an international group of Primula enthusiasts who live not only in North America but also in many other parts of the world. Some members are academics with special expertise in the genus Primula; some are collectors and hybridizers; others are general gardeners who are fascinated by the wide variety of primulas available. With more than 450 species ranging from tiny European alpines to the stately ‘candelabras’ of Asia, there is a primula for everyone.
The Society is guided by a board consisting of four officers (president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer) and six directors. Officers are elected every two years, while directors serve for three years. You will find the current officers listed under “The Board of the APS“. All board members are volunteers and receive no payment for their services.
In North America, our members are often grouped into local chapters for mutual benefit. Each chapter has a contact person. Please see “Local Chapters” for more information. We are always looking to establish more chapters. To form a chapter a group must consist of ten or more APS members. In the United States, there are some tax benefits to forming a chapter. Also, the representative of the chapter (usually the chapter president) becomes a member of the APS board with full voting rights. The main condition is that each chapter has to submit an annual financial report to the Treasurer. However, if there are fewer than ten APS members in a group, or if the group chooses not to form a chapter (for example, the Canadian group in British Columbia), the group may apply to become an official APS Group, which entitles the group to send a representative to speak at APS board meetings.
The president of the APS establishes committees from time to time to deal with matters such as website maintenance, quarterly editing, show judging, nominations, and advertising. Some of these committees are virtually permanent, while others may be set up to deal with a temporary situation. All members are eligible (and most welcome!) to serve on most of the committees. These positions may be advertised on this website.
The society is totally dependent on volunteers. Please consider offering to help, either by serving on the board or a committee or forming a local chapter or group.