JUNE 113 



cheerfully as any daffodil. I have reason to believe 

 that the clumps of the yellow form that enliven our 

 woodsides were planted about one hundred years ago. 



Another vehement note is struck at this season by 

 Papaver umbrosum, a brilliant annual poppy which 

 sows itself in odd corners and sends up a shower of 

 blood-red cups with black blotches on the bases of the 

 petals. As it does not exceed 18 inches or 2 feet in 

 height, it is not so dangerous to its neighbours as the 

 Oriental poppy, which is simply irrepressible and ruth- 

 lessly smothers anything which it can overshadow. 



Among the myriad species of Primula newly 

 imported from the Far East, the majority are of but 

 little use for outdoor gardening, being either of biennial 

 or uncertainly perennial habit. But P. helodoxa is an 

 acquisition of much merit, its tiers of canary yellow 

 blossom forming a charming contrast with the sky-blue 

 spires of the blue Himalayan poppy Meconopsis lati- 

 folia which springs self-sown in a nook half shaded 

 from the sun. 



Several species of Roscoea, an attractive genus of the 

 Ginger family, are now in cultivation in this country, 

 but are not yet so often seen as they deserve to be. 

 They take kindly to our climate in deep loamy soil, 

 requiring special attention only in one respect, namely, 

 marking with permanent labels to protect them from 

 destruction in forking and hoeing. If that is neglected, 

 they are pretty sure to come to grief, forasmuch as of 

 all herbs with which I am acquainted they are the 

 latest to show above ground. R. purpurea, which has 

 been longest in this country, is a Himalayan species 

 H 



