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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS polyanthus 



very often they become vigorous after 

 transplanting and liave blossoms superior 

 to the ranker-growing kinds. It is also 

 an excellent plan to sow the seeds of 

 Auriculas in cold frames as soon as ripe. 

 By spring most of the seeds will have 

 germinated, and when large enough may 

 be pricked out into light rich soil. 



The plants may also be divided in 

 spring, but better still in early autumn. 



POLYANTHUS. —The Garden 

 Polyanthus has been mainly derived 

 from PrirriMla variaibilis — itself a hybrid 

 between the Common Primrose and the 

 Cowshp (see p. 617). Unlike the Prim- 

 rose, the umbels of flowers are not con- 

 cealed among the leaves, but are thrown 

 well up on a stalk as in the Auricula ; 

 otherwise the vegetative characters are 

 very similar. A packet of seeds will give 

 an immense variety in colour and size, and 

 by saving seeds from the finest flowers 

 with the most clearly defined colours, 

 beautiful varieties are obtained, the 

 individual flowers often being almost as 

 broad as an ordinary watch. The flowers 

 from the expert's point of view should be 

 large, flat, but not absolutely circular 

 as in the Auricula. The ground colour 

 should be rich and dark, and uniform, 

 with a clear lemon - gold centre. The 

 edge should be clear and golden in colour, 

 matching the centre, while the mouth 

 of the tube should be regular and well- 

 defined, and even slightly raised above 

 the level of the centre. It should also be 

 ' thrum-eyed ' in preference to ' pin-eyed,' 

 that is, the anthers, and not the stigma, 

 should fiU the orifice. These are the 

 characteristics of the ' Gold-laced ' Poly- 

 anthus, to which must be added that 

 the ground or body colour, that is the 

 zone between the centre and the edge, 

 may be of a dark rich velvety crimson- 

 red or velvety red, but quite free from 

 specks or blemish, and perfectly clear and 

 unshaded. 



' Fancy ' or Giant Polyanthuses are 

 an ornamental and vigorous race, with 

 strong trusses of variously coloured 

 flowers, from pure white and yellow to 

 deep purple and crimson. 



The ' Primrose ' Polyanthuses are 

 those which at first throw up apparently 

 single flower stems like the Primroses, but 

 later on the scape elongates and bears its 

 umbeHn true Polyanthus fashion. 



It is quite unnecessary to abide by the 



arbitrary rules laid down by florists, and 

 many beautiful forms will be found 

 which do not conform to their more or 

 less conventional ideas. 



Like the Primrose there is no end of 

 the uses to which the Polyanthus may be 

 put in the flower garden. Grown in beds 

 or masses they form lovely pictures in 

 spring, especially if plants of the same 

 variety are grouped together. In chunps 

 in shaded parts of the rockery, in crevices 

 and nooks facing west or north they are 

 as good as the choicest alpines ; while as 

 edgings to shady borders or margins 

 of shrubberies they are equally bright 

 and pleasing. 



There are innumerable varieties, some 

 having yeUow, white, and crimson co- 

 lours throughout and known as ' selfs.' 

 Between these there are all kinds of 

 intermediate shades. Then there are the 

 ' Hose-in-Hose ' varieties, in which the 

 calyx has been modified and become an 

 exact counterpart of the corolla in shape 

 and colour. Erin's Yellow, Domesfort 

 Yellow, are fine yellow Hose-in-Hose 

 forms, and there are also others with 

 creamy white, crimson, and scarlet 

 flowers. Pantaloons, Rex Theodore, 

 Tortoise-shell and Golden Ball are well- 

 known varieties, the three latter with 

 double flowers. Some of the very oldest 

 and most famous varieties have dis- 

 appeared from cultivation, but others 

 perhaps equally as good will take their 

 place in due course. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 Polyanthus thrives in any fairly rich soil 

 in rather moist or more or less shady 

 situations. After flowering is well over 

 and the leaves begin to turn yellow, the 

 plants may be pulled to pieces and re- 

 planted in shady places to make fine 

 flowering clumps the following spring. 

 Seeds sown as soon as ripe will germinate 

 freely, and in this way a large quantity of 

 plants can soon be raised. The choicer 

 varieties are best sown in shallow pans 

 or boxes, as they are more easily attended 

 to than if sown in the open border. If 

 intended for exhibition the plants are 

 grown in pots, or lifted early in spring and 

 put into pots and then grown on in cold 

 frames, so that the flowers may be pro- 

 tected from injury by rain and frost, and 

 appear brighter and clearer. In gardens 

 where Polyanthuses flourish they multiply 

 themselves naturally from seeds which 

 fall from the globular seed-case when ripe. 



