36S 



JOUKNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. [ November is, 1873. 



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iutroduction of spring gardening that ths taste for cultivat- 

 ing these flowers has been resuscitated, and the important 

 addition thay make to the decoration of our gardens at that 

 early season is likely to cause them to be again one of the 

 most popular of the hardy decorative plants. We know of no 

 flowers which keep up for so long a period such a mass and 

 variety of striking colours. They may furnish either beds of 

 distinct colours, or be used iu an almost endless variety to 

 produce whatever effects may be desired ; while their hardi- 

 ness and facility of propagation give no anxiety as to their 

 cultivation, as is the case 

 with most plants which 

 are used for bedding pur- 

 poses. 



It is well known that 

 there are varieties of the 

 Polyanthus which are 

 grown by florists as prize 

 flowers, but of these we 

 do not intend to treat, 

 our observations will be 

 confined alone to the 

 hardy border varieties. 



In the wild state there 

 is a considerable differ- 

 ence between a Primrose, 

 a Cowslip, and an Oxlip, 

 and botanists have re- 

 cognised this by calling 

 them severally Primula 

 acaulis, Primula veris, 

 and Primula elatior. 



The Primrose is at 

 once distinguished by 

 the flower-stalks being 

 one-fiowered, and issu- 

 ing direct from the root- 

 stock in the bosom of the 

 leaves. The corolla is 

 large and flat, the tube 

 of the calyx cylindrical, 

 and the blade of the leaf 

 tajieriug into the winged 

 footstalks. 



The Cowslip bears its 

 flowers in an umbel 

 which is on the top of 

 a tall scape, and they 

 are small, concave, and 

 sweet-scented, with an 

 inflated calyx. The blade 

 of the leaf terminates 

 abruptly, and the leaf- 

 stalks are not winged. 



The Oxlip is perfectly 

 distinct from either a 

 Primrose or a Cowslip, 

 and may be said to be in- 

 termediate between the 

 two. It has a tall hairy 

 stem like the Cowslip, 

 bearing a many-flowered 

 umbel of drooping flow- 

 ers, which become erect 

 when in bloom. The co- 

 rolla is large and flatter 



than in the Cowslip, the lobes are deeply notched, and there 

 are five deep yellow spots round the throat. The calyx is 

 cylindrical, with sharp acuminate segments. The blades of 

 the leaves are like those of the Cowslip, with the winged 

 petiole of the Primrose. 



These three forms are the parents of the garden flowers 

 known as Primroses, Polyanthus, and Oxlips, which may 

 be _ taken as the primary divisions ; but these are again 

 divided into the various forms known as IIose-in-Hose, 

 Pantaloons, and Galligaskins. 



I.— THE PEIMEOSE. 



In a state of nature the Primrose is not subject to any great 



variation. It is only iu the size and form of its flowers that 



this is most observable. In the Weald of Sussex, where it 



grows in great profusion and luxuriance, I have had every 



opportunity of observing the variations to which it is liabl 

 and I have remarked that there are the earlier and the later- 

 varieties, causing two blooming periods. The first, which com- 

 mences iu the beginning of March, and is sparing in com- 

 parison with the second, producing flowers which are generally 

 small, have nothing remarkable in their appearance; but in 

 j the second season, which begins about three weeks or a month 

 I later, we have the full flush of the Primrose bloom, and then 

 we find flowers of all sizes and forms, some perfectly round 

 and of the diameter of a half-crown piece, others with six 



instead of five lobes in 

 the corolla, some with 

 fringed corollas, and I 

 have seen them with the 

 limb of the corolla nearly 

 abortive. But the varia- 

 tion in colour is very 

 rare. I have found in 

 my fields a pure white 

 with a large round flower, 

 a deep red, a brick-colour 

 flower, and a puce, but 

 these occur very seldom ; 

 and I have never seen a 

 wild one which throws 

 its flowers on a scape like 

 the Cowslip, although it 

 is mentioned by authors, 

 and I every year raise 

 them from seed among 

 my Polyanthus, The two 

 periods of blooming are 

 observable iu the culti- 

 vated varieties as well as 

 in the wild ones. Almost 

 as soon as winter has dis- 

 appeared, and even be- 

 fore if it should be a 

 mild one, some of the 

 early varieties already 

 make the flower borders 

 gay. The Single Paper 

 ■U'hite and the Single 

 Lilac bloom very early, 

 and are quite past when 

 the great mass of other 

 sorts are coming in. The 

 Double Sulphur is also 

 a very early and free 

 bloomer, and there are 

 two varieties of Double 

 White, one of which 

 blooms earlier than the 

 other. 



We do not obtain from 

 the Primrose in a state 

 of cultivation so great 

 a variety of colour as we 

 do of the Polyanthus. 

 Primroses are always, or 

 nearly always, self-co- 

 loured with the excep- 

 tion of the eye, which is 

 always present. 



The trae Primrose 

 varies in colour of all 

 shades from white to dark maroon. But although the colours 

 are less varied than in the Polyanthus, the varieties of double 

 Primrose are much more numerous. I have in my coUectiou 

 Double White, two varieties ; Double Yellow, Double Sulphur, 

 Double Lilac, Double Crimson, Double Red, Double Purple, and 

 Double Purple with silver fringe. The varieties in form of the 

 Primrose are so far as I know Pantaloons and GaUigaskins, 

 but I have never seen a true Hose-in-Hose Primrose. 



THE OXLIP. 



Although this is not a common plant I have found several in 

 hedgerows on my property, varying in colour from sulphur to 

 a more decided yellow, and Uke the Primroses and Cowslips, 

 some with thrnm and some with pin eyes. I have cultivated 

 it for several years, and never succeeded iu obtaining any great 

 variation. The only distinct varieties I possess are of the 



Hose-in-Hose. 



