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PRIMULA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PRIMULA. 



elevations on the mountains of N. India, 

 in the vicinity of water. Its smooth 

 green leaves are 2 inches long, from them 

 arising flower-stems 5 to 7 inches high, 

 bearing sweet creamy-white flowers- with 

 a yellowish eye, an inch across, from 

 March to May. 



P. PALINURI. This is quite different 

 from other cultivated Primroses, inasmuch 

 as it seems to grow all to leaf and stem, 

 while many of the other kinds often hide 

 their leaves with flowers. In April its 

 yellow flowers appear in a bunch at the 

 top of a powdery stem, and it emits a 

 Cowslip-like perfume. It thrives as a 

 border plant in light soil. Division. S. 

 Italy. 



P. PARRYI. A pretty Primrose, bearing 

 about a dozen large, bright, purple, 

 yellow-eyed flowers nearly i inch across. 

 These flowers are borne on stems about 

 i foot high. Though an undoubted 

 alpine, and growing on the margins of 

 streams near the snow-line, where its 

 roots are constantly bathed in ice-cold 

 water, it has succeeded in the open border 

 in moist, deep, loamy soil mingled with 

 peat ; it is hardy, and requires partial 

 shade from extreme heat rather than 

 protection from cold. N. America. 



P. PUBESCENS. A hybrid of P. auricula 

 and P. hirsuta. A perfectly hardy plant 

 of easy cultivation. Dwarf habited, the 

 clusters of rosy crimson, white-eyed 

 flowers appear in May and June. Rich 

 gritty, well-drained loam. Its most im- 

 portant variation is P. p. alba, the plant 

 not infrequently such in gardens as P. 

 nivalis, though quite distinct from the 

 true plant of that name. The clusters 

 of snow-white flowers appear in May and 

 June. It responds to cultivation in rich, 

 well-drained soils and is not averse to 

 manure. Rarely exceeds 4 inches high. 

 A gem for the rock garden in cool spots. 

 Seed and division. 



P. PULVERULENTA. For combined 

 stature and flower freedom no modern 

 introduction equals this imposing species 

 from W. China. A true bog plant in 

 nature, it occurs at high elevations in 

 moist open meadows, the moisture suiting 

 it equally in cultivation in lowland gardens, 

 where it will attain to 4 or even 5 feet 

 high. It is valuable also for cool moist 

 spots in any position responding to rich 

 well-manured soils. The genus contains 

 no species of greater magnificence, well- 

 developed examples producing six to 

 eight strong flowering scapes and tier upon 

 tier of rich wine-red to crimson flowers. 

 It is one of the most amiably disposed of 

 the whole race. It seeds as it flowers 

 with great freedom. Seeds if allowed to 

 fall on the wet soil will yield strong 

 seedlings by the hundred, an object lesson 

 of high import which. gardeners would do 

 well to note. For such vigorous wildlings 

 raising seedlings in frame or greenhouse 



is wrong. It is perfectly hardy, its pale- 

 coloured variety Mrs Berkeley much less 

 so, and certainly also less desirable. 

 June-July. 



P. PURPUREA. A handsome Primrose, 

 with purple flowers borne in heads about 

 3 inches across. Sheltered and warm 

 but not very shady positions, either in 

 the rock garden or in the open parts 

 of the hardy fernery, will best suit it if 

 the soil is a light, deep, sandy loam, 

 and well enriched with decomposed 

 leaf-mould. It never thrives so well 

 as in nooks at the base of rocks, where 

 it enjoys more heat than it would if 

 exposed. It must not be confused with 

 the variety of P. denticulata commonly 

 called by the same name of P. purpurea. 



P. ROSEA (Rosy Himalayan P.) is a 

 bright Primrose, with flowers of the 

 loveliest carmine-pink. Its pale green 

 leaves form compact tufts, and the 

 flower-stems, 4 to 9 inches high, appear 

 in early spring. It is hardy and grows 

 vigorously in almost any soil, preferring, 

 however, a deep rich loam in a moist 

 shady part of the rock garden. Often a 

 non-success if given true bog conditions, 

 and in such cases the plants should be so 

 raised above the water-level that the 

 root-fibres only reach moisture. In 

 partial shade and rich sandy soils, 

 heavily dressed with old cow manure, it 

 is often more vigorous and free flowering 

 than in conditions constantly wet, hence 

 a plant for experiment. Easily raised 

 from seeds it is the most brilliantly 

 flowered perennial kind of its race. Good 

 garden forms are grandiflora, with larger 

 blooms, and splendent, with flowers of an 

 intense colour. 



P. SCOTICA is a native plant, and requires 

 similar treatment to P. farinosa. The 

 flowers, which show in April, are rich 

 purple with a yellow eye, and are borne 

 on stems a few inches high. Native of 

 damp pastures in the northern counties 

 of Scotland. There is also a beautiful 

 pure white form of farinosa found upon 

 Ingleborough, but this is very scarce. 



P. SECUNDIFLORA. A vigorous species 

 having the habit of growth of P. sikkim- 

 ensis, but of a rich wine-red colour and 

 greater flower freedom than that kind. 

 The flowers, too, are sweet scented. Full 

 of promise and distinction, quite hardy 

 and of easy cultivation, it should be 

 planted in cool or moist places in rich 

 loamy and vegetable soils where good 

 drainage is present. Easily raised from 

 seeds. June-July. W. China. 



P. SIBIRICA. A pretty little plant of a 

 few inches high, akin to the pale-flowered 

 P. involucrata. It carries rather deeply- 

 cut leaves and small clusters of three to 

 five pale rosy-red flowers encircled by 

 long bracts. Arctic regions of Asia and 

 N. America. 



P. SIEBOLDI. This is one of the 



