February 17. 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



185 



primrose. It is easily raised from seed which should 

 be sown in March. By sowing the seeds early nice 

 little plants are obtained before the hot weather sets 

 in and, if kept shifted along, by the end of September 

 they ought to be in six-inch pots and beginning to pro- 

 duce their flower clusters. For a cool conservatory or 

 cool window in the house there are few plants with the 

 exception of Primula obconica that will last so long in 

 bloom or give such pleasing effects as this primrose 

 will. 



All green house primroses should be grown as cool as 

 possible. In fact all the species that are grown under 

 glass should not have a higher temperature than 45 

 degrees Fahr.. and often we let the temperature go 

 down as low as 40 degrees. 



The color of the flowers is very much improved by 

 growing them in a low temperature. Many of the 

 complaints we hoar from florists and others of the 

 flowers of primroses being so fugacious are caused, no 

 doubt, from growing the plants in too much heat. 



Do not discard the plants of Primula stellata as you 

 do the Chinese varieties, as this primrose can be grown 

 a second and third year and make much finer and larger 

 plants than they did the first year. After the plants 

 are through blooming in April cut off the old flower 

 stems and set the plants out in a well-shaded cold frame 

 where they may rest until the end of June when they 

 may be toned out of their pots, the old soil carefully 

 reduced with a sharp pointed stick and then placed in 

 smaller pots. When the pots are full of roots the\ can 

 be shifted along just in the same way as growing young 

 plants. 



Good rough loam with plenty of leaf mould and 

 sheep manure is the compost we use for primroses. 

 When the plants are well established in their pots an 

 occasional application of liquid manure is very beneficial 

 to them. 



Q / 



Boronias 



These Australian heath-like plants are entitled to be 

 classified with the most elegant flowering plants ex- 

 tant: some of them possess the additional charm of 

 fragrance from their flowers, others from their leaves. 

 Among the latter B. elatior is one of the most promi- 

 nent : On' former includes B.megastigma. which ranks 

 near the head of deliriously fragrant flowering plants. 

 For chaste floral elegance as a flowering plant B. hete- 

 rophylla has but few successful rivals. 



Considering then the above commendable properties 

 possessed by these plants, it is no small wonder that 

 they are so uncommon. They inherit better staying 

 qualities than the general run of heaths, and are less 

 liable to run to glory — or somewhere else — as heaths 

 do at times under the ordinary treatment bestowed on 

 plants as a whole; nevertheless, in order to succeed well 

 with them a little attention on the part of the cultiva- 

 tor will not be amiss. 



While fibrous peat as a major part of the potting 

 material is undoubtedly preferable for the more deli- 



cate kinds, it is not absolutely necessary as an ingredi- 

 ent to fulfil all requirements. B. elatior is one of the 

 most robust and rapid growers of the genus, and most 

 any good soil will suit it, with the requisite porosity 

 of leaf-mould and clean sharp sand. This variety is 

 later in flowering than the other two mentioned above; 

 ii- -eason of flowering commences in April, according 

 to the temperature wintered in, and it is good in flower 

 for two or three months at a stretch, a characteristic 

 rarely possessed by other family members, which adds 

 proportionately to its other good traits. The flowers 

 are not large but numerous, rosy-red in color. 



B. megastigma is a slender, twiggy plant and might 

 be termed an oddity from a flowering standpoint, the 

 latter possessing no attractive brilliancy, the chief 

 charm being confined to the subtle delightful fragrance 

 exhaled from the flowers. The flowers are broadly 

 campanulate, dark brown without and somewhat yel- 

 lowish within. One plant of this variety would scent 

 a whole ordinary-sized greenhouse. It is an early win- 

 ter-flowering kind. 



B. heterophylla is unquestionably the jewel of the 

 genus from a floral and decorative aspect ; it is also 

 slender and twiggy in habit, the flowers arising from 

 the axilla of the slender, narrow leaves, as in the other 

 varieties mentioned, in great abundance, of a brilliant, 

 rosy-carmine hue, small, inflated at the calyx end of 

 the flower, tapering to a sharp point at the opposite 

 end which seldom ever expands, one of the peculiarities 

 of this variety and one in my opinion that adds greatly 

 to its beauty, this flower appearing like so many uni- 

 formly moulded beads stuck on the plant by an artistic 

 hand. This variety is a mid-winter flowering subject, 

 given its proper winter quarters and its own inclina- 

 tion; otherwise of course it can be manipulated to 

 change those inclinations as the cultivator desires. 



Speaking of proper quarters, I may add that a cool, 

 airy house suits them best, where a minimum temper- 

 ature of 40 degrees, and a maximum temperature of 

 4."i at night in winter is maintained. 



February and early March is a favorable season for 

 the propagation of boronias as they require considerable 

 time to take root. It is very essential, therefore, that 

 they be well on towards the cullisiney stage ere the 

 strong and hot sun of advanced spring be with us; 

 failure, in the latter case, will surely reward our be- 

 lated efforts. Cuttings should be taken from the tips 

 of the branchlets of a semi-woody texture, and inserted 

 in the usual way in pans or pots of prepared soil, which 

 ought to consist of sand chiefly, with a lesser amount 

 of finely sifted peat oi' leafmould added. Bell glasses, 

 or similar contrivances, are an acquisition to the suc- 

 cessful rooting of hardwooded plants; but I have found 

 it unnecessary with two of the subjects of this note. B. 

 elatior and B. heterophylla rooting freely in an ordi- 

 narv bench but with much the same care bestowed on 

 other miscellam s subjects common to a private es- 

 tablishment. 



To procure shapely, Imshv plants frequent pinchings 

 have to be resorted to in their infancy, and an annual 

 shearing over after flowering when they have attained 

 manhood stages, ai which period greater vigor and 

 progress are made bj annual planting out in mellow 

 enriched soil. 



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