SPRING IN THE GARDEN 141 



garden plant than the cowslip, and the early gar- 

 deners, as well as the ladies who in mediasval 

 England did as much for the progress of gardening 

 as the ladies of to-day, seem to have taken kindly 

 to the garden forms of the primrose. The earliest 

 date, however, it is possible to assign to the 

 primrose in the garden is 1578, when Lyte 

 mentions it as "fayre and dubbel." A special 

 paragraph is devoted also to the green primrose. 

 Tusser catalogues the primrose among the herbs 

 for the kitchen, while cowslips and pagyles 

 (oxlips) appear among "flowers for windows and 

 pots." 



As the green primrose is the earliest recorded 

 variety, it may be worth remarking that along 

 with the green cowslip and oxlip it continued 

 in both its single and double forms to be the 

 favourite flower until at least the end of the seven- 

 teenth century. Bacon in Sylva Sylvarum refers to 

 it, but is driven to prove his contention that there 

 was no such thing as a green flower. " There is " 

 he remarks, " a greenish Prime-Rose, but it is pale 

 and scarce a green." Among the Elizabethan poets 

 who may be said to have popularised the primrose 

 Spenser is the only one who refers to the green 

 variety — 



