§Jl Violets, ^Primroses and Wallflowers @£ 



a plant of British origin, having been evolved solely by 

 the skill of British growers. And on the Continent the 

 polyanthus is always known as the * English primula.' 

 It is interesting to remember that when the polyanthus 

 was a prime favourite, Lancashire and Cheshire growers 

 were celebrated. In his Flora Historica (1824) Phillips 

 says : 'In no part of the world is this flower so success- 

 fully cultivated as in England, particularly by the zealous 

 florists of Lancashire and Cheshire, who have, in the 

 instance of this flower, left the Dutch bloemist con- 

 siderably in the background. The neighbourhood of 

 Manchester and Macclesfield is justly celebrated for 

 producing the finest specimens of this flower, and in 

 these manufacturing districts the criterion of a fine poly- 

 anthus is ascertained with as narrow a scrutiny as the 

 sportsman regards his pointer or setter dog ! ' 



We have five species of primula native in Great Britain 

 — the common primrose (P. vulgaris), the Bird's-eye 

 primrose (P. formosa), the Scottish primrose (P. scotica), 

 the oxlip (P. elatior), and the cowslip (P. officinalis). Of 

 these the common primrose is the only one which can be 

 described as accommodating. Three hundred years ago 

 Parkinson wrote of the Bird's-eye primrose : ' It will 

 hardly endure in our gardens, for all the care and industrie 

 we can use to keepe it,' and this is as true to-day. For this 

 lovely little primrose, which with its rosette of leaves 

 covered on the under-side with a meal-like excretion, its 

 umbel of lilac-purple flowers with a yellow eye (some 

 varieties are pink or deep crimson) upborne on slender 

 stems 3 to 12 inches high, is such a joy in the rock garden. 

 Native of the mountainous pastures of Yorkshire and 

 V\ estmorland, it requires a moist atmosphere and a 



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