40 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



as the end of February. They range in colour from pure white to 

 deep primrose, and from palest pinky-lilac through strong red-purples 

 to a colour nearly approaching blue, and there are also rich reds of 

 many shades. There is not as yet any Primrose of a true pink colour, 

 nor, though the type colour is yellow, are there as yet any strong 

 yellows of the orange class. There are also double Primroses in 

 nearly all the same colourings. The Polyanthus with its neat trusses 

 of small flowers, though beautiful in the hand and indispensable in 

 the good garden of hardy flowers, is not a plant for the Primrose 

 garden, as it makes no show in the mass. The grand Primroses 

 for garden effect are the large bunch-flowered kinds, white, yellow, 

 and orange-coloured, red, crimson, and rich brown ; of infinite variety 

 in form, texture, habit, and colouring, easy to raise to any amount 

 by seed, as also by division of the older plants. A Primrose garden 

 (part of which is here illustrated), that for some years has been 

 an ever-increasing source of pleasure and interest to its owners, 

 was formed a few years ago by making an opening about 70 

 yards long, and varying from 10 to 15 yards wide, through a 

 wild copse of young Birch trees. The natural soil was very poor 

 and sandy, so it was prepared by a thorough trenching and a 

 liberal addition of loam and manure, which has to be renewed every 

 year. No formal walks are made, but one main track is trodden 

 down about 2 feet wide near the middle of the space, dividing into 

 two here and there, where a broader clearing makes it desirable 

 to have two paths in the width. The older divided plants are put 

 into groups of a colour together from twenty to fifty of a sort. 

 The groups of seedlings are of necessity more various, though 

 they are more or less true to the parent colour, so that a patch of a 

 hundred seedlings from yellow, for instance will give a general 

 effect of yellow throughout the group. The whites and yellows are 

 kept at one end of the garden, and the reds at the other ; the deepest 

 yellows next to the reds. Seen from a little distance, the yellow and 

 white part of the Primrose garden looks like a river of silver and gold 

 flowing through the copse. The white stems of the Birches and the 

 tender green of their young leaves help to form a pretty picture, 

 which is at its best when the whole is illuminated by the evening 

 sunlight. 



Some of the Plants for Reserve Garden and for cutting Flowers. 



