PRIMULA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PRIMULA. 



obtain is because their culture is not 

 understood, and stocks once allowed 

 to die out can scarcely be replaced. 

 Their reproduction, as they have no 

 seed, is impossible, and one has to 

 depend on division alone for their 

 increase. Like all perennials, there is 

 a tendency to natural deterioration, 

 and unless they be kept in the highest 

 vigour by change of soil and locality 

 and breaking up, nothing can keep 

 them. 



" The secret of growing double Prim- 

 roses differs little, if at all, from that 

 of the more delicate perennials, two 

 points being specially to be observed 

 protection from cutting and strong 



our spring gardens. It would require 

 pages to describe even the good 

 varieties. At one time the Polyanthus 

 was highly esteemed as a florists' 

 flower, and none in existence better 

 deserved the attention and regard of 

 amateurs ; but nearly all the choice 

 old kinds are now lost, and very few 

 florists really pay any attention to 

 the flower. Thanks to the great 

 facility with which varieties are raised 

 from seed, nobody need be without 

 handsome kinds, especially as raising 

 them will prove interesting amuse- 

 ment for the amateur. 



Polyanthuses should be seen in 

 strong colonies in shrubberies and 



" Bunch " Primrose 



winds, and that they be grown 

 together in beds massed, not dotted 

 through the herbaceous border. Be- 

 yond this only such knowledge is 

 required as can be obtained by ex- 

 perience in the management of this 

 class of plants." 



THE POLYANTHUS. Though the 

 origin of this beautiful old-fashioned 

 flower is somewhat obscure, it is con- 

 sidered to be a form of the common 

 P. vulgaris with the stems developed. 

 Polyanthuses are not at all sufficiently 

 appreciated, considering the wonderful 

 array of beauty they present, and that 

 for rich and charmingly inlaid colour- 

 ing they surpass all other flowers of 



borders. Their cultivation is almost 

 as simple as that of meadow grass. 

 They grow vigorously in almost any 

 garden soil, but best in a soil that 

 is somewhat rich and moist ; and 

 though they thrive in the full sun, 

 they enjoy best a partially shaded 

 and sheltered position, and are some- 

 what impatient of heat and drought. 

 When grown for bedding they are, 

 like the Primroses, removed in early 

 summer from the flower garden to 

 the kitchen garden or nursery, and 

 replaced there when the summer bed- 

 ding plants have passed away. 



There have been lately raised some 

 varieties, a good deal larger in their parts 



