THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



J83 



Pyrimidal Flowering Chinese Primulas. 



spring to it. And it should be high 

 enough so that a man can work his 

 hands conveniently without bending 

 his back. It is the bending over that 

 tires. You can't raise a low bench up 

 to suit a tall workman, but you can 

 raise the short workman up to suit 

 the bench. 



PRIMULA. 



A very large genus of pretty dwarf 

 stemless plants that are all from tem- 

 perate climates or high elevations. 

 Those of us who crossed the Atlantic 

 will remember the fields and banks 

 and hedge rows where the primrose 

 covered the ground. The cowslip (P. 

 officinalis) was not so common and 

 was generally found in a colony in a 

 pasture and the oxlip (P. elatior) was 

 still less common. 



Many primroses are hardy with us, 

 but our severe winter, and often hot, 

 dry summer, is not nearly so favorable 

 to them as the more temperate parts 

 of Europe. The polyanthus, similar to 

 the cowslip except in color,- is the 

 leading flower in thousands of cottage 

 gardens, and with it the old woman's 

 story that if you plant a cowslip or 

 common primrose upside down it will 

 come red, double, etc. This strange 

 phenomenon never occurred in the 

 garden that you are visiting, but it did 

 happen, because our Aunt Jane or old 

 Bill Jones did it many times. 



The polyanthus is sometimes saen 

 doing very well here, and where it 

 can be shaded, but not a wet soil, and 

 protected in winter, it is a most charm- 

 ing hardy spring flower. 



The old double white form of P. sin- 

 ensis was once a most important plant 

 with every florist. Its flowers were 

 used in immense quantities for making 

 designs, but we have gotten over that, 

 and although we had no difficulty in 

 cutting up the large plants with a 

 sharp knife and making each section 

 into a cutting which rooted slowly but 

 surely, we no longer bother with that 

 method of propagation. We have now 



a double white equal to the old vari- 

 ety from seed and we have every 

 shade, double and single, from pure 

 white to crimson. The varieties of P. 

 sinensis come true from seed and it is 

 upon such we depend for our fall, win- 

 ter and spring flowering plants, and 

 they are now one of our most impor- 

 tant plants. 



Besides P. sinensis we have P. ob- 

 conica and P. Forbesii, the "baby 

 primrose." For some years we did not 

 realize the great beauty and useful- 

 ness of P. obconica. It is a most 

 charming and useful plant, and the 

 baby primrose sells at , sight. They 

 are so profuse in bloom and have the 

 great good quality that they are fine 



window plants, and being easily raised 

 can be sold at a very moderate price. 

 Other species may be found very at- 

 tractive for the private collection, but 

 the three mentioned are the leading 

 commercial plants, and all want about 

 the same treatment. 



Always obtain the best strain of 

 seed. It takes time and tedious care 

 to save primula seed, so don't be- 

 grudge paying for a good strain. The 

 foliage as well as flowers of the P. 

 sinensis are handsome. We have fern- 

 leaved, parsley-leaved, curl-leaved, 

 and in flowers most beautiful colors 

 and markings. The flowers of obcon- 

 ica have been greatly improved of late 

 and doubtless in both that and 

 Forbesii great improvements will be 

 made. 



The primulas are the least troublsd 

 with any of our greenhouse pests of 

 any cultivated plants. The principal 

 thing to remember is that they do not 

 like much heat. After they have left 

 the seed pan they need a good open 

 soil; two parts loam, one part sifted 

 cow manure, and one part leaf-mold 

 will do them finely, potted only mod- 

 erately firm. 



The leaves, or rather, leaf stems, 

 break easily and here is where care- 

 ful and skillful potting comes in. I 

 frequently see people, when asked to 

 "knock out those plants," take hold 

 of the top of the plant as they would 

 a cat's tail if they wanted to draw 

 pussy from her retreat. Get the base 

 of the plant in the fork between your 

 fingers, and you can protect every leaf. 

 I noticed some years ago that the Eng- 

 lish florist had small sticks pushed 

 down on three sides of the stem of the 



Primula Obconica. 



