GARDEN FLOWERS. 307 



crea7n centre — Hopwoodiana. Scarlet^ ivith yellow centre — 

 Plantii. Yellow — Argo, Julia, Primrose, Mulleri. Yellow and 

 bright red — Sudbury Gem, Theodore. Yellow and pi?ik — 

 Garnieriana, Mackayana, Mayana. 



Every year, however, produces new varieties, which super- 

 sede the old, though often no better. 



Prickly Poppy. See Argemone. 



Primrose. See Primula. 



Primula. Primrose. [Primulaceae.] Beautiful dwarf 

 tufted growing herbaceous perennials, nearly all of which are 

 hardy as respects cold. Of P. vidga?'is, the common Prim- 

 rose, there are double-flowered varieties of several colors. 

 These grow best in a cool, moist, but well-drained situation, 

 and prefer a soil of light loam intermixed with decayed tree- 

 leaves. They are propagated by dividing the tufts into sep- 

 arate crowns with roots attached, which may be done in 

 spring, and the young plants planted out in cool shady situ- 

 ations. By the following spring, they will become strong 

 blooming plants. One variety of Primrose produces a 

 bunch of flowers on the top of a common stalk ; and this 

 appears to be the origin of the garden plants known as 

 Polyanthus. Most of the hardy species of Primula are 

 extremely beautiful subjects in a pot-collection of Alpine 

 plants, blooming in May. This class may be grown in pots 

 or on rock-work, in peat and loam, and require chiefly to be 

 kept cool and moist in summer, but in winter they must be 

 kept rather dry as well as cool. Seeds of these may be 

 sown about May, that the plants may acquire strength be- 

 fore winter. 



Auricula (Primula Auricula). — The cultivated varieties 

 of this species of Primula are commonly known as the Au- 

 ricula. There is hardly a flower that presents such an ap- 

 pearance of artificial structure as the Auricula ; the surface 



