Chas TAL) Ge UE 
Now, Rave and Beautiful Plants. 
NEW, RARE AND BEAUTIFUL PLANTS, 
*PRIMULA JAPONICA— Queen of Primroses. (With a colored plate.) 
The ‘*FLorist”’ says of it—‘‘ Hail! Queen of the Primroses! for so its intro- 
ducer designates the lovely flower we now figure, which is hardy as a peasant, 
resplendent as a princess. It is just ten years since Mr. Fortune met with it in 
Japan, a basketful of blooming plants having been brought to his door; they 
were, of course, secured, but the journey home was too much for them, and 
despite every care none reached England alive. Ever since that time endeavors 
have been made.to introduce this lovely plant, but till now without success, the 
seeds having been found to lose their germinating powers in the course of trans- 
mission io Kurope, At last, however, perseverance has been rewarded, and from 
seeds imported by Mr. Fortune, plants have been raised in the establishment of 
Mr. W. Butt, of Chelsea. Our gardens have thus secured a perfectly new, 
thoroughly hardy, and exquisitely lovely Primrose, one which is really valuable 
on account of its intrinsic beauty. Of the hardiness of the ‘ Primula japonica’ 
there can be no doubt, since plants which have been standing all the winter, 
fully exposed, in the trying atmosphere of London, are perfectly healthy, and 
came into bloom about the middle of May, some two or three weeks later than 
the plants which had been potted and flowered under glass.”’ 
The ‘*FioraL MaGazine”’ remarks— Since the day when ‘ Lilium aura- 
tum’ was displayed for the first time to the horticultural public, we cannot 
recollect so great a sensation to have been occasioned by any plant as by that 
which we now figure, when Mr. W1LL1AM BuLt exhibited it on May 3d of the 
present year. Its history is now well known, and of its merits too much cannot 
be said. To Mr. Fortune, already so successful in enriching our gardens, are 
we indebted for it; and Mr. BuLL may well congratulate himself on being the 
first to introduce it into Europe. A Primula a foot anda half high, bearing 
four or five separate whorls of flowers, each flower an inch in diameter, and of 
a splendid magenta color, and the plant moreover perfectly hardy—can any- 
thing be added to this to indicate its value? We hardly think so, and every one 
who saw it will fully bear out our assertion, that a more beautiful or a more 
useful plant has not been for many years introduced into Kurope. Of its hardi- 
ness there can be no doubt, as it has stood the ordeal of the last severe winter in 
the neighborhood of London.’’ Price, $2 each. 
PELARGONIUM COQUETTE DE PLESSIS. . 
White, with a bright rosy carmine blotch on upper petals, and feather-like 
centre crimson lines, under petals tipped with rosy crimson, with white side 
belts. This beautiful flower belongs to the class of French Fancy varieties, very 
early and a profuse bloomer, having a nice compact habit—qualities which par- 
ticularly recommend it to the attention of florists. The very finest market 
flower. 60 cents each. 
*PELARGONIUM FERNERFOLIA ODORATA. 
This was raised from the old Denticulata, but is much more finely cut in the 
leaf, and is a very strong grower. It never changes its beautiful Fern-like ap- 
pearance, and is one of the easiest geraniums to grow at all seasons of the year. 
The fragrance is pleasing, and it is an excecdingly beautiful plant. 75 cts. each. 
