288 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



propagated by division or by seed, and 

 comes from the mountains of southern 

 Europe. 



Primula Floerkiana is like the Fairy 

 Primrose, probably only a variety of it, 

 and in the flowers only differing by bearing 

 two, three, or more, instead of a single 

 bloom. There is also a difference in the 

 leaves, which in P. minima are nearly 

 square at the ends, but in P. Floerkiana 

 are roundish there, and notched for a 

 short distance down the sides. It is a 

 native of Austria, and will be found to 

 enjoy the same conditions as the preceding. 

 Of both it is desirable to establish wide- 

 spreading patches on firm bare spots, 

 scattering ^ inch of silver sand between 

 the plants to keep the ground cool. 



P. Munroi (Munro's Primrose). This 

 has not the brilliancy or dwarfness of the 

 Primulas of the high Alps, nor the vigour 

 of our own wild kinds, but it is distinct, and 

 is of the easiest culture in any moist soil. 

 It grows at high elevations on the 

 mountains of Northern India, near water, 

 and bears creamy-white flowers, with a 

 yellowish eye, more than an inch across on 

 stems 5 to 7 inches high, springing from 

 smooth green leaves a couple of inches long. 

 The flowers are sweet, and it highly 

 merits culture in the bog garden, and 

 flowers from March to May. P. involucrata 

 is an allied kind, from the same regions, 

 somewhat smaller, thriving under the 

 same conditions. 



P. nivea (Snowy Primrose). A dwarf 

 species, freely bearing trusses of lovely 

 white flowers, quite distinct in aspect 

 from any other in cultivation, happily 

 easy of culture, and may be grown in 

 pots or in the open ground. If in pots, it 

 should be frequently divided ; for it has a 

 tendency, in common with other choice 

 Primulas, to get somewhat naked about 

 the base of the shoots, and, as these 

 protrude rootlets, the whole plant is 

 likely to go off if not taken up and 

 divided into as many pieces as possible. 

 Every shoot will form a plant, inasmuch 

 as each is usually furnished with little 

 rootlets, which take hold of fresh soil 

 immediately. In a wild state the natural 

 moisture and the accumulating debris of 

 the mountain enable them to use those 



exposed rootlets, and thrive ; but in 

 cultivation I have found it best to divide 

 such fine Primulas as this, and plant 

 them down to the leaves when their stems 

 have grown much above the soil. The 

 ground would also be the better of being 

 covered with an inch or so of cocoa-fibre. 

 In moist and cool districts there would be 

 less trouble, but, in all, care should be 

 taken to give the Snowy Primrose what it 

 deserves a select place, a light free soil, 

 and plenty of water during the summer. 

 It flowers in April and May, is a native of 

 the Alps, and is by some supposed to be 

 a variety of P. viscosa. 



Primula officinalis (Cowslip). The 

 Cowslip of our meadows is worthy of a 

 place in gardens ; but the many handsome 

 kinds that have sprung from it are more 

 valuable from a garden point of view. 



Polyanthuses for rich colour surpass 

 all other flowers of our gardens in spring. 

 At one time the Polyanthus was highly 

 esteemed as a florists' flower, but nearly 

 all the choice old kinds are now lost, and 

 florists who really pay the flower any 

 attention are few. In consequence, how- 

 ever, of the great facility with which 

 varieties are raised from seed, nobody 

 need be without handsome kinds, and 

 raising them will prove interesting amuse- 

 ment. 



P. Parryi. A pretty rocky mountain 

 Primrose, bearing about a dozen large, 

 purple, yellow-eyed flowers, nearly 1 inch 

 across in summer on stems about 1 foot 

 high. Though an alpine plant, and 

 growing on the margins of streams near 

 the snow-line, where its roots are bathed 

 in ice-cold water, it has succeeded in 

 Britain in moist, loamy soil mingled with 

 peat ; it is hardy, and requires shade from 

 extreme heat rather than protection from 

 cold. North- West America. 



P. suaveolens of Bertolini is a variety 

 of the Cowslip, found in many parts of the 

 Continent, and not sufficiently distinct or 

 ornamental to merit cultivation. 



P. elatior is the true as distinguished 

 from the common Oxlip. It is not an 

 ornamental species, the flowers being of a 

 pale buff-yellow, and it is readily dis- 

 tinguished by its funnel, and not saucer- 

 shaped corolla, which is also destitute of 



