50 i\U[ILIAR GARSEX FLOWERS. 



is occasiitnally misunderstood by amateurs^ who Inive not 

 fully learned the import of the term " winter damp." 

 Wiiile growing freely they certainly must have moisture, or 

 tliey will die. The same remark applies to the common Eng- 

 lish primrose, and thousands perish every year in gardens 

 through dryness at the root in the summer season. But, 

 on the other hand, a damp sour soil is equally fatal to them 

 in winter, and, to take a further view of the matter, 

 tlie defective drainage of rockeries and borders is the 

 principal cause of all the losses that occur in gardens 

 where choice plants are denied their right of choice treat- 

 ment. To grow Pnimila Hieholdt and its near relation 

 P. curl nnoidvsi well, a border or bank should be jirepared 

 of good loam, leaf-mould, and old hotbed manure, with a 

 liljeral proportion of sand; and in this they will prosper, 

 provided they are not injuriously damp in winter. In a 

 place badly drained, a raised Ijank or slope will often 

 answer perfectly for plants that are a little particular, but 

 the slope should be broad and easy, not narrow and abrupt. 

 An easy slope will collect its share of summer rain, but a 

 sharp slope will collect none, and in avoiding winter damp 

 we must not rush to the other extreme of summer dryness. 



The named varieties of this primula are of great value 

 for frame culture and for the unheated Alpine house. 

 The best of them give us beautiful shades of lavender and 

 blue, colours but rarely represented in the })rimnla family. 



Wc CDutinue here our list of select rotdcery plants, many 

 of which arc admirably adapted for the border : — 



Pliln.i: i-,'pl,in-'i and Huhiilalii, with their several varie- 

 ties, will thrive in any good soil ; they bear partial shade, 

 and make a woudrous show ijf floral beaut)'. 



P/iijlciuiiii himulc, Siehi'ri, and orljiruhire arc of the 



