i886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



75 



do here in the north ; not for oil with which 

 to smear tlieir own dusky skins, as might l)e 

 done, but only as seetl-stock with which to 

 raise new crops of the " Sun plants " later. 

 Incidentally, it may be said that the writer 

 of these words, converts a wet patch of land 

 beyond his ice-ho\ise into a thick grove of 

 Sunflower plants every year, for the sole 

 purpose of giving their thirsty roots a 

 chance to suck up the surrounding moisture, 

 and the possible malarial influences. 



Hardy Primroses— The Auricula. 



Everyone of our readers, we are sure, has 

 heard of the Auricula — that member of the 

 Primrose family which is made so much of 

 throughout Eng- 

 land a n d Scot- 

 1 a n d — but per- 

 haps not one in 

 a thousand has 

 au intimate ac- 

 quaintance with 

 it, derived from 

 cultivating the 

 p 1 a n t s. This 

 last fact is, per- 

 haps, sufficiently 

 accounted for. 

 on the simple 

 grounds that the 

 plant is ill3-adapt- 

 ed to our hot 

 summers a n d 

 harsh winters. 



The Auricvda, 

 Primula au ric- 

 vla, is a native 

 of the Switzer- 

 land mountains. 

 Even in Eng- 

 land, where so 

 much has been 

 done for improv- 

 ing the species, 

 it re<iuires pains- 

 taking culture. 

 But then its great 

 beauty — in a 

 measure set forth 

 by our engraving 

 — is a sutficient 

 reward for all 

 this trouble. 

 That it can be 

 grown in Amer- 

 ica under cer- 

 tain favorable 

 circumstances, 

 is also true. We 

 are informed by 



a very successful florist of this state, that 

 with him it has succeeded for more than 

 thirty years, by growing it in rich, heavy 

 soil, on the north side of a house. The plants 

 are raised from seed sown in spring, these 

 flowering the second season afterwards. For 

 winter protection, a sod is inverted over each 

 plant late in autumn. 



But if we cannot easily have the Auricula 

 everywhere, we can at lea.st have its beauti- 

 ful relatives of the hardy Primroses, which 

 do succeed readily in our gardens with com- 

 mon culture. Take for one class of these, 

 the old fashioned Polyanthus. Priinuhi reris 

 {milgaris of some). Our bcautifid engrav- 

 ing of the relative will l)ring these to the 

 minds of many. They are beautiful, free- 

 flowering plants, that in the spring months 

 are the delight of all beholders. The colors 

 vary from a delicate straw color, to dark 



maroon and pure white, with an endless 

 variety of shades and markings. The plants 

 are hardy, thrive in any fair garden soil, 

 and are increased by division or by seeds. 



Another valuable sort for the American 

 climate is Siebold's Primula, P. cnrlimoides, 

 the tj'pe of which is a iJretty little plant si.\ 

 to nine inches high, and bright lilac flowers. 

 Within the past few years a great many 

 beautiful varieties of this hardy Primrose 

 have been obtained, and are now lieing of- 

 fered for sale. We notice in the catalogue 

 of Woolson it f 'o. . the extensive growers of 

 hard}' plants, at Passaic, N. J., the men- 

 tion of colors of this one, ranging from pure 

 white to the deepest red. in varieties suitable 



HARDY PRIMROSES— AN ENGLISH AURICULA. 



either for out-of-door or pot culture. 



It is to be hoped that, with the increased 

 attention now being given to all classes of 

 hardy flowering plants, we shall yet see 

 further improvements made in this class. 

 Then we might still more easily be recon- 

 ciled to the fact, that the true Auricula 

 hardly meets the conditions of climate and 

 culture that generally prevail with us. 



Notes from Lyndale. 



BY A. H. E. 



In this season of planting, I desu-e to say to 

 those persons who are not yet acquainted with 

 the Japan Creeper lAmpelopsis trit-iixjiithifri, 

 sjTionym Veitcliii,) or, as it is often 

 called, Veitch's Ampelopsis, get in line at 



once in cultivating it, or you will soon be 

 " behind the times." Of course, everybody 

 knows the Virginia deeper, or American Ivy 

 {Aiitpi'lripsis qiiuupiffolid). This othercreeper 

 from Japan is a sister species, and one which, 

 in time, must largely crowd the American sister 

 out, I feel quite certain. 



* * * 

 Besides the chai-ms of thLs creeper of lieing 

 new (compai-atively) and distinct, it appears to 

 have every good trait of the older sort, with 

 some superior traits in addition. The leaves 

 are smaller, and, while varying some in form, 

 are chiefly of a lobed or cleft form, sometimes 

 heai-t-shaped, and in general ;iook more hke 

 those of the English Ivy than of our common 

 Ampelopsis. As a creeper it has the tenacity 

 and the beauty of the true Ivy, covering what^ 

 ever it overruns, 

 with a smooth, 

 dense sheet of 

 green, the leaves 

 overlapping like 

 shingles on a 

 roof. In this re- 

 spect it is of sur- 

 passing beauty. 

 The plant is 

 hardy, (still I 

 cover my young 

 plants for one or 

 two winters), 

 vigorous, al- 

 though short- 

 jointed, and in 

 every way satis- 

 factory. It should 

 be in every col- 

 lection. I see 

 that plants may 

 now be bought of 

 all nursery-men 

 at fift)' cents, or 

 less, apiece. 



How long, O, 

 how long will 

 people suffer 

 from dishonest, 

 swindling agents .' 

 Until they be- 

 c o m e educated 

 t o discriminate 

 between the 

 honest and dis- 

 honest salesmen, 

 and no longer. 



It is perfectly 

 astonishing what 

 an amount of 

 business these wolves in sheep's clothing 

 manage to devise. Only the other day, one of 

 my neighbors, as I was visiting him, called my 

 attention to what I at once saw was a specimen 

 of these fellows' work. He pointed out some 

 " Dewberry Stalks" that he bought and planted 

 last spring. He paid $3 apiece for three of 

 them. A glance showed that they were nothing 

 more than some of the cheapest off cast grape 

 vines, such as had perhaps been bought up af- 

 ter sorting in the uui-series, for almost nothing. 

 The agent, by making great claims for the 

 •' Dewterry," showing a " specimen " of some- 

 thing in a glass bottle, took .s9 out of my 

 neighbor's pocket, and in return, gave plants 

 that had cost him, very Ukelj", not above half 

 a cent apiece. Of course he sees and admits he 

 was humbugged, and the probability is that 

 the next agent that comes along will be harshly 

 dealt with, perhaps more so than he deserves. 



* * * 

 ■WTiat I told my swindled neighbor I state as 

 good advice to all, in the matter of treating 

 the approaches of agents, namely: First, re- 

 member that to buy of agents at all, you must 

 pay considerably more than if you bought di- 

 rectly from the growers of the stock. Second, 

 if disposed to deal with them, ask prompt Iv to 

 see their letters of introduction from the nur- 



