EOCK, ALPINE, FERN, AND WILD GARDENING. 



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three years, each plant will send up numerous umbels, 

 each bearinf^ many flowers of much beauty. Alpine 

 Auriculas are very hardy. Native of Switzerland 

 and elsewhere. 



* Frimula capitata (Routid-headed Primrose). — This 

 plant sends up a mcal-covered flower-stem, on which 

 a round dense head of bloom is produced. The 

 colour of the pips when opened is violet-blue. The 

 flowering- period is from April to June. Native of 

 Sikkim. 



Primula cashmeriana (Cashmere Primrose). — The 

 foliage when well grown is very large and hand- 

 some, consequently plenty of room must be afforded 

 it. As one describer of it says, it often has the ap- 

 pearance of a young Cos Lettuce. The under side 

 of the leaves is covered densely with yellow meal. 

 The flowers are borne in a globular truss, on a stout 

 stem often a foot high, and are of a pleasing light 

 purple colour. This is one of the truly herbaceous 

 kinds, and therefore care must be taken that they are 

 not destroyed by digging about them after they have 

 gone to rest. 



* Frimula, cortusoicles (Cortusa-like Primrose). — 

 This is a charming old-fashioned kind easily raised 

 from seed. It should be grown in a sunny position, 

 sheltered from rough winds, the flower-stems being- 

 slight and brittle. Native of Siberia. 



^Primula denticulata (Small - toothed Primrose). 

 — Although this comes from India, it is quite hardy 

 in England. Its native home is at a considerable 

 elevation on the Himalayas. The flower-stem often 

 reaches a foot high. The flowers are a dark lilac in 

 colour, and are produced from March to May. A 

 positionw here plenty of moisture will reach, but will 

 not be able to stagnate, will usually secure the robust 

 growth of this species. 



* Primula farinosa (Mealy Primrose) . — Although 

 this miniature Primrose is a native plant, it is well 

 worth cultivation in our gardens, especially in those 

 parts of the country where it does not grow wild. 

 The flowers are of a pale lilac colour, with a yellow 

 eye, from which peculiarity one of its conunon names 

 has been derived — Bird's-eye Primrose. A damp 

 situation suits it to perfection, and a preference 

 should be given to a strong rather than a light soil. 

 Shade from the mid-day sun also suits it. The 

 flowers appear from April to June. 



* Primula japonica (Japanese Primula). — A few 

 years ago this was such a rarity that it commanded 

 very high prices ; now it is so universally distributed 

 as to be almost as cheap as our Common Primrose. It 

 is, nevertheless, so beautiful that it is a welcome deni- 

 zen of every garden, and its tendency to variety in 

 colour indicates that the amateur who bestows atten- 

 tion upon it may be rewarded with results which will 

 repay him. In our own garden we have hybrids 



between it and P. rosea, which have much interest, 

 and have encouraged us to hope for advances in the 

 combination of the beauties of both, which may yet 

 prove "things of beauty" as well as "joys for 

 ever." There seems some difflculty in raising seed- 

 lings unless the seed is sown directly it is ripe, then 

 no difiiculty is experienced. The moral is to sow the 

 seed the moment it can be obtained, and to do so in 

 a cool frame, and never in the green-house. Its 

 name sufficiently indicates its habitat. 



Primula luteola (Yellow Primrose). — This fine 

 yellow Primrose, where it is well grown, produces 

 vigorous flower-stems, rising- sometimes to more 

 than a foot in height. A moist shady situation suits 

 it, and where it thrives it is generally regarded 

 one of the finest members of its family. It is a 

 native of the Caucasus. 



Primula marginata (Margined Primrose).— The 

 specific name has been bestowed because the leaves 

 are so distinctly margined with silvery silken 

 markings as to separate it by this peculiarity from 

 all other kinds. The flowers are of a soft violet-rose 

 colour, rising- but little above the leaves. The proper 

 position for such a dainty plant is in some crevice of 

 the rockery where shelter can be derived from the 

 neighbouring stones. A mixture of ordinary soil, 

 sharp sand, and leaf-mould will enable this plant to 

 thrive, especially provided the surface be covered 

 with nodules of sandstone. Propagated by division 

 of the little offsets which appear during the summer ; 

 they should be separated from the parent plant when 

 they are seen to emit roots. A native of the Alps of 

 Tauria. 



^ Primula Munroi (Munro's Primrose). — This is a 

 white-flowered Primrose of easy culture in a damp 

 peaty soil. We have ourselves grown it to perfection 

 in a border of ordinary garden soil facing' north, 

 where it was well supplied with moisture during- the 

 summer months. Moisture it must have if it is to 

 thrive, and on the edge of the bog-bed it will doubt- 

 less be seen at its best. Easily propagated by 

 division. A native of India. 



Primula nivea (Snowy Primrose). — This is another 

 white-flowered kind not very well known, but de- 

 serving a place everywhere. It is a little tender, 

 and in the winter should be protected with a good 

 layer of cocoa-nut fibre, which will in some degree 

 compensate for the absence of the snow coverlet, 

 which in its native habitat protects it during periods 

 of low temperature. This is a plant which needs 

 watching, in order that whenever rootlets appear 

 about the offsets a supply of soil may be placed 

 aroimd them, so as to preserve them from the 

 effects of a drying atmosphere. It blooms in the 

 spring months, and is a native of the Alps. 



Primula purpurea (Purple Primrose). — A very fine 



