290 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



covering acres of ground with its yellow 

 flowers. Propagated by division, as it 

 rarely or never matures its seeds in this 

 country. It is well to raise it from good 

 seed now and then, as it is apt to disappear 

 in some soils. 



Primula Stuartii (Stuart's Primrose). 

 A noble and vigorous yellow Primrose, 

 a native of the mountains of Northern 

 India, to some parts of which, according 

 to Roy el, it gives a rich yellow glow. 

 It grows about 16 inches high, has leaves 

 nearly a foot long, mealy below, smooth 

 above ; the umbels being many-flowered. 

 Like P. denticulata and the purple 

 Primrose, the place most suitable for 

 this is some perfectly drained and 

 sheltered spot ; if convenient, plant it 

 against the base of rocks, which will 

 shelter it from cutting winds, though, 

 when sufficiently plentiful, this precaution 

 may be dispensed with. A light deep 

 soil, never allowed to get dry or arid in 

 summer, will suit it well. 



P. viscosa (Viscid Primrose). This is 

 the lovely little Primrose that travellers 

 who visit the Alps in early summer see 

 opening its clear rosy-purple flowers with 

 white eyes at various altitudes : some- 

 times, in crossing a high pass, it conies 

 into view, plant, flower, and all, not bigger 

 than a shilling, but still bravely flowering 

 indeed, nearly all flower ; while on 

 sunny slopes and in the valleys it may be 

 seen nearly as large as the Auricula. It 

 may be grown in any position in light, 

 peaty, or spongy loam, with about one-half 

 its bulk of fine sand, provided its roots 

 are kept moist during the dry season. A 

 native of the Alps and Pyrenees ; easily 

 increased by division, and may also be 

 raised from seed. Varieties are some- 

 times found with white flowers, but 

 rarely. The handsome purple Primroses 

 known in gardens under the name of 

 P. ciliata and P. ciliata purpurea are 

 varieties of this, the last said to be a 

 hybrid between it and an Auricula. Syn., 

 P. villosa. 



P. Vlllgaris (Common Primrose). The 

 Gentians and dwarf Primulas do not do 

 more for the Alps than I his for the hedge- 

 banks, groves, open woods, and borders of 

 fields and streams of the British Isles, 



The forms of the plant most precious 

 for the garden are the beautiful old double 

 kinds. No sweeter or prettier flowers 

 ever warmed into beauty under a northern 

 sun than their richly and delicately tinted 

 little rosettes. The best known and 

 most distinctly marked kinds are the 

 double lilac, double purple, double 

 sulphur, double white, double crimson, 

 and double red. 



The double kinds, more delicate and 

 slower - growing than the single ones, 

 require more care, and in their case the 

 development of healthy foliage after the 

 flowering season should be the object of 

 those who wish to succeed with them. 

 Shelter and partial shade are the two con- 

 ditions chiefly necessary to secure this. 

 Open woods, copses, and half -shady places 

 are the favourite haunts of the Primrose 

 in a wild state. In them, in addition to 

 the shade, it enjoys shelter not merely 

 from tall objects around, but also from the 

 long grass and other herbaceous plants 

 growing in close proximity ; and we 

 should also take into account the nioisl mv 

 consequent upon such companionship, and 

 let these facts guide us in the culture of 

 the double kinds. As will be readily seen, 

 a plant exposed to the full sun on a naked 

 border would be under a different con- 

 dition to one in a thin wood ; the exces- 

 sive evaporation and searing away oi' the 

 leaves by the wind would be sufficient to 

 account for the failure of the exposed 

 plant. It is therefore desirable, in the 

 case of the beautiful double Primroses, to 

 plant them in shaded and sheltered 

 positions, using light rich vegetable soil, 

 and, if convenient, keeping the earth 

 from being too rapidly dried up by 

 spreading cocoa-fibre or leaf-mould on it 

 in summer. 



They are increased by division of the 

 roots, and to take them up in order to 

 divide these is the only disturbance they 

 should suffer. The double Primroses well 

 grown, and the same kinds barely existing, 

 are such very different objects, that nobody 

 will begrudge giving them the trifling 

 attention necessary to their perfect de- 

 velopment. Occasionally they may be 

 seen flourishing by some cottage or old 

 country garden, where they find a home 



