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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS peimula 



Culture and Propagation. — P. Sie- 

 holdi and its many varieties flourish 

 in rich, well-manured and well-drained 

 sandy loam and leaf soil. They are easily 

 increased by seeds sown in spring or by 

 dividing or cutting up the creeping roots 

 ■which form ' eyes ' or buds, from which 

 young plants grow. May be associated 

 vdth P. japonica in half-shady parts of 

 the border, the rockery, or wild garden. 



P. sikkimensis. — This beautiful species 

 lJ-2 ft. high is found growing in wet, 

 boggy places in the Sikkim Himalayas at 

 (elevations varying from 12,000-17,000 ft. 

 Leaves roughish, wrinkled, obovate ob- 

 long, blunt, toothed, tapering into a stalk. 

 Flowers in May and June, more than ^ in. 

 across, pale yellow, bell-shaped, droop- 

 ing, fragrant, in large umbels sometimes 

 containing as many as 60 blossoms ; 

 scapes stout, erect, 1^2 ft. high. 



CuUu/re and Propagation. — This 

 species loves deep, moist, peaty soil and 

 somewhat shaded situations, either in the 

 rock garden, the edges of ponds or streams, 

 or the wild garden, where it should be 

 grown in large patches in swampy spots 

 to give a sheet of yellow bloom. It may 

 be increased by seeds sown as soon as 

 ripe, or by careful division in spring, just 

 as the new leaves are beginning to sprout. 

 It is probably better treated as a biennial 

 in some localities than a perennial. 



P. similis. — A robust Styrian hybrid 

 between P. Balbisi and P. Auricula. 

 Flowers in April and May, yellow. 



Culture ic. as above. Bockery or 

 border in sandy loam and leaf soil. 



P. soldanelloides. — A native of the 

 Sikkim Himalayas, with ovate leaves J-J 

 in. long, irregularly and pinnately lobed 

 and toothed. Flowers in early summer, 

 white, large, nodding, one on a scape, with 

 a long cylindrical tube and spreading 

 bilobed segments. 



Culture <tc. as above. Moist sandy 

 loam and peat in the rockery. 



P. sonchifolia. — A Chinese species 

 related to P. obtusifolia, but distinguished 

 by its smooth, almost runoinate, oblong 

 or obovate leaves or broadly winged 

 stalks. Flowers in June, violet. 



Culture do. as above. Moist sandy 

 loam and peat or leaf mould in sheltered 

 Bunnv parts of the rockery. 



P. spectabilis. — A native of the Eastern 

 Alps, about 4 in. high. Leaves thick and 

 fleshy, elliptic, with entire cartilaginous 

 margins. Flowers in July, deep rose- 

 purple, 6-8 in an umbel, on scapes 3-4 in. 

 high. 



Culture do. as above. Sandy loam 

 with a little chalk and leaf moiild in 

 exposed parts of the rockery. 



P. spicata. — A remarkable Chinese 

 species with papery ovate-oblong, doubly 

 crenate leaves on narrowly winged stalks. 

 Flowers in June, violet, on one-sided 

 spikes, an unusual character in Primulas. 



Culture dc. as above. Sandy loam 

 and leaf soil in the rockery. 



P. Steini. — A Tyrolean hybrid between 

 P. minima and P. viscosa hirsuta. 

 Leaves in large rosettes, obovate spoon- 

 shaped, with 7-9 large teeth towards the 

 apex, and a few glandular hairs along the 

 edges. Flowers in April in great profusion, 

 violet-purple with a white centre, 3-4 on 

 a scape 1-2 in. high. 



Culture dc. as above. The rockery in 

 moist sandy loam and leaf soil. 



P. Stuarti. — A beautiful strong-grow- 

 ing species 9-18 in. high, native of the 

 mountains of N. India. Leaves about 

 1 ft. long, broadly lance-shaped, sharply 

 toothed, smooth above, powdered beneath. 

 Flowers in summer, bright golden-yellow, 

 many in an umbel. The variety pur- 

 purea (also known as P. jeeshhiana) has 

 broad rarely toothed leaves, white or 

 yellow beneath, and pale or deep pm-ple 

 flowers often in 2 whorls. 



Culture dc. as above. Deep moist 

 sandy loam and leaf soil in sheltered parts 

 of the rockery or border. 



P. Sturi (P. minima puhescens). — A 

 Styrian hybrid between P. minima and 

 P. viscosa. Leaves about 1 in. long, 

 wedge-shaped, hairy, coarsely toothed 

 near the truncate apex. Flowers in 

 April and May, rose-purple, large and 

 freely produced. 



Culture dc. as above. Moist sandy 

 loam and leaf soil in the rockery. 



P. suffrutescens. — A pretty Califor- 

 nian Primrose with long straggling rather 

 woody stems and rosettes of evergreen 

 narrow wedge-shaped spathulate leaves, 

 1^-2 in. long, toothed at the apex. 

 Flowers in spring, 1 in. across, rosy- 



