776 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



bright, it would be desirable, for a few 

 days after planting, to shade the plants 

 by spreading boughs or old garden mats 

 over them, and they should at this time 

 be thoroughly watered. If the plants are 

 strong and regular in their development, 

 they should be planted in lines, lo or 12 

 in. apart each way, but if the offsets are 

 small they should be closer in the lines. 

 By autumn they will make fine plants, 

 and may then be taken up ; as much of 

 the root as will come up with ordinary 

 care, but not necessarily any soil or ball, 

 being preserved, and the plants should 

 be transferred to beds in the flower 

 garden or the pleasure-ground. The 

 varieties of single coloured Primroses are 

 so numerous that it seems a folly to 

 name them, but a few of the most 

 distinct of those propagated by division 

 have received names. Among these may 

 be mentioned : Belvedere, with delicate 

 rosy-lilac flowers, orange and white at 

 the centre ; Cecil Rhodes, dark ruby red, 

 the best of its class ; Evelyn Arkwright, 

 only differing from the wild kind in its 

 immense flowers, 2 to i\ in. across ; 

 Miss Massey, dark maroon-crimson with 

 a golden eye ; Munstead Early White, 

 white with a golden centre, early in 

 flower ; Novelty, large flowers of a pretty 

 tender green shade ; Oakwood Blue, a 

 good blue kind, which in turn has given 

 other shades known as Wilson's New 

 Blue Primroses ; Rosy Gem, a fine shade 

 of rose. Such good old kinds as Fairy 

 Queen, Auricukcflora, Altaica, Crimson 

 Banner, and Violetta seem to have almost 

 disappeared. The propagation of these 

 kinds, as well as of all the perennial Prim- 

 roses, is slow,unless they can be reproduced 

 true from seed. A seedling may produce 

 two others the first year after blooming, 

 and these may produce six or eight the 

 next year, so that it takes several years to 

 raise a hundred plants, and some patience 

 must therefore be exercised before the 

 newest forms can be circulated largely. 



Double Varieties. — The forms most 

 precious for the garden are the beautiful 

 old double kinds. No sweeter or prettier 

 flowers ever warmed into beauty under a 

 northern sun than their richly and deli- 

 cately-tinted little rosettes. Once they 

 were in every garden, but the day came 

 when, like many hardy flowers, they were 

 cast aside to make way for gaudier things ; 

 now, however, people are beginning to 

 grow them again, and are inquiring for 

 old and half-lost kinds which they used 

 to know long ago. The best known and 

 most distinctly marked are the double 

 lilac, double purple, double sulphur. 



double white, double crimson, and double 

 red. These and several allied forms are 

 occasionally honoured with Latin names 

 descriptive of their shades of colour. In 

 catalogues will be found the following : 

 Primula vulgaris alba plena, lilacina 

 plena, purpurea plena, rosea plena, rubra 

 plena, sulphurea plena ; but we had 

 better speak of them in plain English and 

 confine the Latin term to the species. 

 The double kinds are slower-growing and 

 more delicate than the single ones, and 

 require more care, and the development 

 of healthy foliage after flowering should 

 be the object of those who wish to succeed 

 with them. In the double kinds the 

 deeper the hue the less robust the plant. 

 The rich crimsons and the deep purples 

 are usually most difficult to cultivate, but 

 in the extreme north, where the climate 

 is at once moist and temperate, they grow 

 almost with luxuriance. The climate of 

 Ireland also favours them, but in the 

 south and midland districts it is necessary 

 to give them shade and abundant moisture 

 during summer, and in winter the pro- 

 tection of glass against the continued 

 frosts and rains. The white, lilac, and 

 sulphur kinds, on the other hand, are very 

 hardy, and, if established, appear to stand 

 our climate well. 



Shelter and partial shade are the 

 conditions chiefly necessary to their 

 successful culture. Open woods, copses, 

 and half-shady places are the favourite 

 haunts of the wild Primrose. In them, 

 in addition to the shade, it enjoys the 

 shelter, not merely of the tall objects 

 around, but also of the long Grass 

 and herbaceous plants growing near. 

 Taking into account the moisture con- 

 sequent upon such companionship, let 

 these facts guide us in the culture of the 

 double kinds. It will readily be seen 

 that a plant exposed to the full sun on a 

 naked border is under conditions very 

 different from one in a thin wood ; the 

 excessive evaporation and the searing 

 away of the leaves by the wind would be 

 quite sufficient to account for its failure. 



It is therefore desirable to plant the 

 beautiful double Primroses in slightly 

 shaded and sheltered positions, in borders 

 of light rich vegetable soil, and, to keep 

 the earth from being dried up too rapidly, 

 spreading cocoa-fibre or leaf-mould 

 on it in summer. It would be better to 

 plant them in some favourite spot per- 

 manently than to change them repeatedly 

 from place to place. Indeed, they ought 

 never to be disturbed except for division. 

 They may be used as bedding plants, 

 if treated as recommended for single 



