254 PRIMULACE.^. 



very interesting and beautiful varieties of Primrose, both single 

 and double; the single varieties need not be enumerated, but 

 are very useful for planting out in clumps or patches, as recom- 

 mended for the commoner forms of Cowslip. The best of the 

 double varieties are the flesh-coloured, the white, the sulphur, 

 the lilac, the red, the coppery, and the dark purple : the three 

 last are rare, and difficult to procure. All are invaluable for 

 the spring flower-garden, for rockwork, and for many other pur- 

 poses in the kitchen and fruit gardens. 



Soldanella comprises a most interesting group of the smallest 

 and most beautiful of alpine plants. It is nearly related to Cor- 

 tusa and F7'imula, but is easily distinguished from either by the 

 cup-shaped deeply-fringed corolla, and by the style of the foli- 

 age, which, with the simplest variation, is the same in all the 

 species, and at the same time very distinct from that of any 

 of the species of the related genera. They are found at very 

 lofty elevations on the Alps of Europe ; two, at least, of the 

 species ascend to near the line of perpetual snow. To be 

 successful with them, we must, as near as circumstances will 

 permit, imitate the climate and other conditions of their native 

 homes. I have seen them succeed very fairly in an open peat 

 border in Ireland, but they are soon lost if any attempt is made 

 to cultivate them in the open border in the majority of localities 

 — and, indeed, success is not always sure on rockwork ; but 

 with proper care and attention they are very manageable in 

 pots, wintered in frames, and bloomed there, and transferred 

 to the rockwork to make growth. A moderately shady position 

 is best, and they would suffer a constant state of saturation, 

 and be the better for it while growing, provided the drainage 

 is good ; but when ample growth is made, less moisture is 

 necessary. In nature they are deluged with snow-drip w^hile 

 growing, but it must be remembered that on the steep moun- 

 tain-sides and rocky places on which they are found it is 

 impossible that stagnation can take place. In winter they will 

 endure much cold, but sufl"er disastrously from damp ; the 

 frame, therefore, in which they are wintered should be cool 

 and dry ; and if they are left on the rockwork out of doors, a 

 ledge projecting overhead, so as to protect from battering 

 showers, would be a good safeguard. Propagate by division 

 immediately after flowering, and by seeds sown as soon as 

 ripe in a cold frame. 



S. alpina {Alpine S.) has small round leaves, dark green, 

 smooth, and somewhat leathery, on short stout stalks. The 

 flower-stalks are erect, bearing two or three bright purple, 

 slightly bell-shaped, deeply-fringed flowers. Flowers in April 



