736 



PRIMULA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



PRIMULA. 



moisture during the dry season, and per- 

 fect drainage in the winter months. Like 

 P. viscosa, it will bear frequent division, 

 and may be easily grown in cold frames 

 or pits. Alps. 



P. longiflora is related to P. farinosa, 

 but is distinct from it, being deeper in 

 colour, and is considerably larger than 

 the best varieties of it, the lilac tube 

 of the flower being more than I in. long. 

 It is not at all difficult to cultivate either 

 on the rock-garden or in pots, and the 

 treatment recommended for P. farinosa 

 will suit it. Austria. 



P. luteola. One of the handsomest of 

 the yellow Primroses, and a noble plant 

 when well grown. The flower-stems are 

 often i^ to 2 ft. high, though they 

 are usually under i ft. in height. They 

 sometimes become fasciated, and thus 

 carry a huge cluster of flowers 4 to 6 in. 

 across. These flowers are like those of 

 a Polyanthus or an Auricula, but they 

 are borne in more compact heads. P. 

 luteola is hardy. It likes a moist situa- 

 tion in full exposure, and if put out in 



Primula nivalis. 



rich borders of rather moist soil, or on 

 the lower banks of the rock-garden, or in 

 a copse with a good bed of leaf-soil, 

 it will soon repay the planter. Caucasus. 

 It has been well figured in The Garden, 

 from plants that flowered at Chipping 

 Norton, in Oxfordshire. 



P. marginata. One of the most attrac- 

 tive of the family, and readily distinguished 

 by the silvery margin of its grayish leaves, 

 and by its sweet, soft, violet-rose flowers. 

 Even when not in flower it is pleasing 

 from the tone of the margins and surfaces 

 of the leaves. The flowers appear in 

 April or May. Our wet and mild winters 

 are doubtless the cause of its becoming 

 rather lanky in the stems after being more 

 than a year or so in one spot. When 

 the stems become long, and emit roots 



above the ground, it is a good plan to 

 divide the plants, and to insert each 

 portion firmly down to the leaves, and 

 this will be all the more beneficial in dry- 

 districts, where the little roots issuing 

 from the stems would be the more likely 

 to perish. P. marginata is a charming 

 ornament for the rock-garden, and thrives 

 freely there. In the open ground a few 

 bits of broken rock placed round the 

 plants, or among them if they are grown 

 in groups or tufts, will prevent evapora- 

 tion, and protect them, as they rarely 

 exceed a few inches in height. Alps. 



P. minima (Fairy Primrose]. One of 

 the smallest of European Primroses. 

 Usually there is only one flower, which 

 is generally rose-coloured, and sometimes 

 white, and appears in summer. The 

 plant is only an inch or so high, but its 

 single flower is nearly i in. across, and 

 almost covers the tiny rosettes of foliage. 

 Bare spots in firm open parts of the rock- 

 garden are the best places for the plant, 

 but the soil should be very sandy peat 

 and loam. It is peculiarly suited for 

 association with the very dwarfest and 

 choicest of alpine plants. Division or 

 seed. Mountains of S. Europe. P. 

 Floerkiana is much like it, and prob- 

 ably is only a variety, since the sole 

 difference is that it bears two, three, or 

 more flowers, instead of only one. It 

 enjoys the same treatment in the rock- 

 garden. Austria. Of both kinds it is 

 desirable to establish wide-spreading 

 patches on firm bare spots, scattering 

 half an inch of silver sand between the 

 plants to keep the ground cool. 



P. Munroi. This has neither the 

 brilliancy nor the dwarmess of the 

 Primulas of the high Alps, nor the vigour 

 of our own kinds, but it is distinct, and 

 is of the easiest culture in any moist 

 boggy soil. It grows at very high 

 elevations on the mountains of Northern 

 India, in the vicinity of water. Its smooth 

 green leaves have a heart-shaped base, 

 and are 2 in. long, and nearly as much 

 across. From them arise flower -stems 

 5 to 7 in. high, bearing creamy-white 

 flowers with a yellowish eye, which are 

 more than an inch across. These flowers 

 appear from March to May, and are 

 very sweet. Altogether, P. Munroi highly 

 merits culture in a bog or in a moist spot 

 of the select rock-garden. P. involucrata 

 is a closely-allied kind, also from the 

 mountains of Northern India. It is, 

 however, somewhat smaller, its leaves 

 are not heart-shaped at the base, and it 

 is not quite so ornamental. It thrives 

 under the same conditions as its relative. 



