IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME XV 



No. 170 



Editor— J- W. Besant 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



Af^RIL 



1920 



Some Primulas to 



By EDWARD A. ARMSTRONG. 



GLfflRARV 

 row* NEW YOkK 

 BOTANICAL 

 OAKDtfV 



rn^ Pfiniula family 

 may truly be said 

 to have a wnrld- 

 w i d e distribution. 

 I'lvere are few varie- 

 ties of plants — in- 

 deed, I doubt if 

 there is any other 

 i)ut the present one 

 — which unite a very - 

 high measure of 

 beauty with remark- 

 al)le ubi(piit(iusness, and yet, withal, when 

 their strongest dislikes are attended to, are of 

 such general ease of culture. There are, of 

 course, among the Primulas, as among most 

 other large families of plants, difftcidties which 

 their cvdtivation offers, but the large majority 

 can be grown under the most ordinary con- 

 ditions as regards soil and care. 



It has been found recently b_y botanists and 

 ])lant collectors that families and genera radiate 

 in their distribution from a centre; or, as they 

 term it, a "focus." This characteristic is a 

 most interesting one, being bound up with 

 geology and the question of evolutionary de- 

 velo])ment, but space forbids more than a mere 

 mention of it. Suffice it to say, that it has now 

 been discovered that tlie hithertn unknown 

 focus of many both botanically and horticul- 

 turally interesting plants is in the recently ex- 

 l)lored regions of China and Thibet. Here 

 Iihododendrons, Meconopsis and Primula, and 

 many another genus have their foci where they 

 are in greatest variety and abundance, radiat- 

 ing out from thence over Asia and Europe, 

 getting thinner in distribution, as a rule, as 

 they migrate further and further away fi'om 

 tlieir ancestral home, until here in the British 

 Isles the number of species indigenous is very 

 rvjfew indeed. 



^ Thus, we, in this Northern land, have only 

 the "pale primrose," the Cowslip and Primida 

 ^ffirifiofia, the Bird's Eye Primrose, as repre- 

 sentatives of this magnificent race of Oriental 

 DC " 



lineage. But, as a joker once said, with regard 

 to Primulas, we have " little and good, and 

 plenty of it." Tliougli we have few species, 

 those which occur are abvmd;uit and very beau- 

 tiful. ]Many do not know that we live in that 

 country in which the Primrose is most 

 abundant ; that the Primrose has a restricted 

 distribution, being unkno\^-n in north-eastern 

 Europe, the Altai or Siberia, and that it caniiot 

 be grown in Canada or x\ustralia. So that'wo 

 should prize the Primrose more than we jdo. 

 If grown in the garden the' Primrose repays us 

 by often giving us flowers in autumn as well as 

 in spring. 



Our other distinct species, FriniuJa jariiiosa, 

 is beautiful beyond words. Though only abun- 

 dant in a few favoured districts of our lai)id, 

 it may be grown as a gai'den plant, over' most 

 of the country. The flowers are pinkish purple, 

 with a beautiful yellow eye, borne in a compact 

 umbel on a long and delicate mealy stalk. The 

 charm of the plant lies largely in this beautiful 

 white meal or farina, which co\ crs in greater 

 or less amount, leaves, stalks, and flowers. 

 Frhuula farinosa likes a damp, stitiish soil. 

 It is diliicult to grow in the south, owing to the 

 comparatively scanty rainfall. It is one of the 

 easiest of the Primulas to raise from seed, but, 

 like most other Primulas, it is sometimes erratic 

 in germination. It is worth any trouble to grow. 



Here I may remark on a pecnliai- character- 

 istic of the Primulas — to have Hcmtrd leaves, 

 stalks and roots. How many, I wondo-, liave 

 noticed when dividing their Polyanthuses and 

 Auriculas, a mysterious, musky, delightful 

 odour which i)ervades the air, and is caught in 

 whiffs all round ? This, to me, is one of the 

 greatest charms of the Primulas, ; and the 

 thought of that delightful fragrance calls up 

 happy peaceful autumn days, when that sweet 

 calm of the time of year is in the air. 



Primula Jidm has the aibove-mentioned 

 scent, and gives it out freely when. the pl^nt 

 is disturbed. It is a happy little introduction 

 from the Caucasus, with glossy olive green 



