Flowers and Gardens 



Now in examining the Primrose we 

 must be careful in our choice of plants, 

 for hardly any flower is more variable 

 both in colour and in form ; even in a 

 wild state its flowers are sometimes al- 

 most pink/ and in the leaves we may 

 find any sort of colour — dark green, 

 yellowish green, or green with a tinge 

 of blue, this last being an inclination 

 towards the marked blue-green of the 

 Cowslip. Each kind has generally some 

 peculiar beauties of its own, but the soft 

 dull tints are, on the whole, the best. 

 The dark leaves have sometimes a 

 beautiful softness, but are apt to be a 

 little wanting in character, whilst the 

 glossier and brighter green look harsh 

 and metallic, and their fur, besides, is 

 coarser. It is, however, by far the best 

 plan to examine all kinds carefully, for 

 most of the faults are only exaggerations 

 of some right tendency, and may help us 

 to discover new beauties in the more 

 favourably developed plants. Find out 

 some Primroses, then, in a sheltered 

 wood, the place where they flourish 

 best, perhaps growing in damper shade 



1 [In some parts, especially in South Wales, it is not 

 uncommon to find wild Primroses which are more than 

 almost pink ; they are a decided red. — H. N. E.] 



S6 



