766 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



P. tonguei. — A charming plant for 

 the rock-garden, and unHke any other 

 kind in its orange and terra-cotta 

 coloured flowers. It is of hybrid origin, 

 and only rises 3 or 4 in. above the 

 soil. 



P. tridentata. — A spreading carpet- 

 like plant from North America, rarely 

 rising above 4 in., its dark evergreen 

 foliage prettily spangled with white 

 flowers in June and July. It does best 

 in a moist, fairly rich place, and will 

 bear partial shade. Easily increased by 

 division. 



PRATIA. — P. angiilata is a pretty plant 

 for the rock-garden, creeping over the soil 

 like the Fruiting Duckweed ; the flowers 

 white, and like a dwarf Lobelia, numerous 



Pratia angulata. 



in autumn, giving place to violet-coloured 

 berries about the size of Peas. It is fairly 

 hardy, and grows best in moist districts 

 with a mild winter, such as Cornwall, 

 where charming carpets of this little 

 plant are not uncommon in shady places. 

 New Zealand. Syn. Lobelia littoralis. A 

 second kind, P. bcgoiiifoUa., is from the 

 Himalayas, and is larger in all its parts, 

 with downv leaves and purple berries. 



PRIMULA (/'r/;;;;^^).— There is so 

 much charm and beauty among Primroses 

 that no garden is complete without them, 

 and there is scarcely a species not worth 

 cultivating. They have a great diversity 

 of habit and growth. Some are at home 

 on the sunny slopes of the rock-garden, 

 others in shade, many make excellent 

 border flowers, and a few exotic species 

 are at home in the woodland with our 

 common Primrose. The family contains 

 nearly a hundred different sorts, and we 

 have therefore confined ourselves to the 

 most distinct and desirable kinds. There 

 is so much confusion among certain 

 sections, particularly in the alpine and 

 the Himalayan species, that we have not 

 attempted to deal with these exhaustively ; 



while others, such as P. nivalis., are too 

 little known in gardens to render it neces- 

 sary for us to speak of them. 



P. amcena {Caucasian Primrose) is 

 allied to our common primrose, but is 

 distinct. The corolla is purplish lilac 

 in bud or when recently expanded, but 

 turns bluer after a few days, and the blooms 

 come out before the snow has left the 

 ground. It is so much earlier than the 

 common Primrose, that while that species 

 is in flower, amcena has finished bloom- 

 ing, and has sent up a strong tuft of leaves 

 very much like that sent up by the common 

 Primrose after its own flowers are faded. 

 It is one of the best plants for the spring 

 garden and the rock-garden. Division of 

 the root. Caucasus. 



P. auricula {Common Auricula). — In 

 a wild state this is one of the many 

 charming Primulas that rival Gentians, 

 Pinks, and Forget-me-nots in making the 

 alpine fields so exquisitely beautiful. 

 Possessing a vigorous constitution, and 

 sporting into many varieties when raised 

 from seed, it attracted early attention 

 from lovers of flowers ; its more striking 

 forms were fixed and classified, and it 

 became a "florists' flower." Its cultivated 

 varieties may be roug-hly thrown into two 

 classes : first, self-coloured varieties, or 

 those which have the outer and larger 

 portion of the flower of one colour or 

 shaded, the centre or eye white or yellow, 

 and the flowers and other parts usually 

 smooth, and not powdery ; second, those 

 with flowers and stems thickly covered 

 with a white powdery matter or " paste." 

 The handsomest of the former kinds are 

 known by the name of " alpines," to distin- 

 guish them from the florists' varieties, and 

 are the hardiest of all. The florists' fav- 

 ourites are distinguished by the dense 

 mealy matter with which the flowers are 

 covered. They are divided by florists 

 into four sections — green-edged, grey- 

 edged, white-edged, and selfs. In the 

 "green-edged" class the throat of the 

 flower is usually yellow or yellowish ; 

 this is surrounded by a ring, varying 

 in width, of white powdery matter, 

 and this again by another ring of 

 some dark colour, and beyond this a 

 green edge, which is sometimes \ in. in 

 width. The outer portion of the flower 

 is really a monstrous development of the 

 petal into a leaf-like substance, identical 

 in texture with the leaves. The "grey- 

 edged" varieties have the margin of a 

 green leafy texture, but this is so thickly 

 covered with powder that the colour can- 

 not be distinctly seen. The same occurs 

 in the " white-edged " kinds, the difference 



