CHAPTER XVI 



PRIMULAS 



Primula obconica 



This is a flower that anybody can grow who will 

 give it a fine, spongy soil and a good deal of water. 

 It has hundreds of fine roots which take up moisture 

 rapidly, and a moderate supply of water will be found 

 quite insufficient to meet its requirements. It is a 

 most profuse and persistent bloomer. It blooms most, 

 however, in winter. Its flowers are lilac, shading into 

 white, or suffused with a pearly pink. They are about 

 the size of a Phlox Drummondi blossom, and similarly 

 shaped. They are produced in loose clusters, in a 

 sort of irregular spike, well above the foliage. They 

 have such a dainty, modest air about them — quite like 

 some of our dainty wild flowers of spring — that they 

 are prime favorites with all who love flowers for 

 individual beauty. They also have a delicate fragrance 

 which adds to their attractiveness. Plants for winter 

 flowering can be grown from seed sown in spring, or 

 by division of the roots of old plants. The only insect 

 I have ever found on this plant is the mealy bug. It 

 can be routed by the use of the soap insecticide recom- 

 mended in a former chapter. 



The Chinese Primrose 



This is one of the most popular of old winter 

 blooming plants. For years it has been a "standby" 

 for the window garden. It is one of those plants 

 which can be depended on to give a steady succession 



