CHOICE PLANTS FOR ROCK GARDENS 171 
cover an extraordinary range, embracing pure whites 
and yellows, many mauves, blues, purples, and some rich 
reds, crimsons, and orange shades, as well as various shades 
of pink and rose. The purposes to which Primulas may 
be put, and their possibilities for effective display in widely 
differing situations, place them in a very prominent posi- 
tion among the best families of hardy plants. We have 
shade and moisture-loving species that will luxuriate in 
the moist margins of ponds or streams, others that flourish 
in the moraine, whilst species of higher altitudes will grow 
and thrive on the high and dry portions of the rock garden. 
The japonica tribe will grow even in open beds so long as 
the soil is fairly retentive, but they make the most glorious 
display when planted close to water. P. marginata and 
its varieties love the sunshine, and can withstand con- 
siderable drought, and P. frondosa, the pretty little hybrid 
Kerneri, and the auricula type also like fairly dry and sunny 
positions. 
For pot growth, either in frames or in the Alpine house, 
the Primula family provides us with a whole host of ex- 
tremely beautiful subjects, and with only a covering of 
glass some kinds will bloom even in the wintry months 
of February and early March, whilst a fairly representative 
collection will keep us well provided with bloom from 
that time onward until summer is well advanced. 
Propagation of primulas may be effected in various ways, 
according to type or section to which they belong. Many 
make clumps of fibrous roots with many individual crowns 
which can be separated with ample roots attached to 
each crown. Others produce rosettes of foliage from 
