^ The Scented Qarden {jj£ 



What a wealth of real spring colour the masses of the 

 different coloured primroses give. The range now is 

 wonderful — blues of every shade, pinks, the * Wisley red ' 

 which is so attractive, and the whole range of Juliae 

 hybrids. P. Juliae itself is a native of the Caucasus, 

 and all the hybrids are free-flowering and easily 

 grown — ' Jewel ' (rosy purple and of even stronger 

 growth), ' Pam ' (ruby crimson, the brightest of all), 

 ' Peg ' (deep beautiful wine colour), ' Lingwood 

 Beauty ' (clear ruby), * Mr. Neave ' (velvety crimson), 

 * Juliana ' (reddish purple), ' Bunty ' (a dark purple-blue, 

 one of the best), ' Crispie ' (a bright crimson), and 

 1 Wanda ' (deep wine colour). ' Wanda,' I think, is one 

 of the best, and is in bloom so early. This last mild 

 winter 'Wanda ' was in full bloom in mid- January, though 

 of course very short-stalked — 2 inches long only, instead 

 of the 4 inches of her later flowering sisters. All the wine- 

 coloured primroses look charming in shallow bowls of 

 pale green moss. A real treasure which is comparatively 

 new but which I should imagine will soon be seen in every 

 garden is Barrowby Gem — a true ' primrose ' but of a 

 deep butter colour, the petals slightly thicker with just 

 a suggestion of being frilled and very fragrant. At 

 Wisley this primrose was continuously in bloom from 

 mid-December to June, and then again for a brief spell 

 in October. It is free-flowering, very striking outdoors 

 and delightful for indoor decoration. The raiser, Mrs. 

 McColl, told me that several years ago she noticed a 

 seedling primrose in her garden of a very charming shade 

 of soft yellow. She waited till by division she got about 

 a dozen plants and then collected seed from them. Out 

 of 200 seedlings from these plants only one produced 



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