April 2?, 1887. ] 
325 
JO URN A L 
OF HORTICULTURE AND 
COTTA GE GAR DEFER. 
28 
Til 
Royal Society at 4.S0 p M. 
•9 
F 
so 
S 
1 
SUN 
8rd Sunday after Eastep. 
2 
AI 
s 
To 
Sale of Orchids at Downside (two day®). 
4 
W 
Society of Arts at 8 P.M. 
AURICULAS, PRIMULAS, AND TRIM ROSES. 
IIE Exhibition of the National Auricula Society 
indicates the arrival of the season when Auri¬ 
culas and Primulas again occupy our atten¬ 
tion for a time, the Primroses we have had 
with us for some weeks, though later and less 
abundant than usual. Amongst the spring 
flowers these are always most welcome, and 
there is ample evidence that their admirers 
are steadily increasing in numbers, not only in the south 
but in the north, which has always been a stronghold of 
hardy florists’ flowers. The National Society has its 
southern and northern sections, each holding an annual 
show in England, and now the Scottish Primula and 
Auricula Society has undertaken to provide the “ Land o’ 
Cakes ” with exhibitions of a similar character, the first 
of which is to be held in Edinburgh on May 4th this year. 
As regards the southern portion of the kingdom, perhaps 
the increasing favour is shown more towards the Alpine 
and border Auriculas, together with the numerous hardy 
Primulas, than towards the show Auriculas, the delight 
of true florists for so many years. Beautiful they all are, 
but the refined attractions of exhibition Auriculas do not 
take the popular attention so rapidly as the varieties 
which can be grown in beds and borders with little 
trouble. Those, however, who commence with these may 
gradually advance in their critical knowledge of the 
qualities and characters of the plants, and if they should 
happen to have an enthusiastic neighbour of the old 
florist’s school they will probably soon enter the ranks of 
the initiated and discuss eagerly the respective merits of 
tube, paste, body-colour, and edge in the exhibition 
varieties and novelties. 
What may be termed the garden and the exhibition 
types of Auriculas must always be kept distinct, and the 
better the line of demarcation is observed the more it 
will be in the interest of growers of each group. The 
delicate flowers of the show varieties have a sorry appear¬ 
ance out of doors, and except for conservatory decoration 
the others seem out of place under glass, or at least they 
f.iil to satisfy those who are familiar with the finer points 
of the florist’s Auriculas. To maintain the latter in their 
position at the head of the family no efforts should he 
spared to preserve, or, if possible, to improve on the types 
transmitted to us by the older growers, to avoid de¬ 
generacy by an approach to coarseness, and to keep the 
Auricula as a model of refinement. It is to be feared 
that Auricula raisers do not always bear this in mind, and 
that those who award certificates do not pay sufficient 
attention to the true position of the varieties they honour. 
Critical judges like the Revs. F. D. Horner and II. II. 
D’Ombrain, Mr. J. Douglas, and Mr. B. Simonlte regard 
these matters in the right light, and very carefully weigh 
the respective qualities of varieties submitted to them, 
but there seems to be a growing inclination with some 
to disregard points which at one time were considered 
essential to a first-rate Auricula. An even proportion of 
tube, paste, body colour, and edge, clear definition of the 
respective parts, and bright fresh colours have long con¬ 
stituted the leading characters of a show Auricula, and 
in the grey-edge varieties the perfection of the ideal has 
been almost obtained in such forms as Headly’s George 
Lightbody, which can be taken as a standard. We do 
not know any novelty of recent years that can equal this 
when at its best. More notable additions have been made 
to the green-edge class, but the white-edge varieties, 
always scarce, seem to still lack the best qualities of the 
others. The seifs are beautiful and most welcome for 
their rich colours, but the tendency to coarseness is 
frequently apparent, as is also the case with the Alpines, 
though in a less marked degree. 
It is not uncommon to find genuine admirers of flowers 
objecting to the rigid rules laid down by florists as 
fantastic, and denying that beauty i3 to be found in a 
series of concentric circles such as might be struck with a 
pair of compasses. But they miss the point. All that 
can be done by cultivators is to develope the characters 
of a plant on the natural basis—that is, the primary 
qualities of the species from which it is derived. This is 
all that has been done or attempted in the case of the 
Auricula, and by comparing the modern varieties with 
the original Primula Auricula and some other species 
which have been concerned in their production, it will be 
seen that the general plan of the flower, if it may be so 
termed, is unaltered. All that the florists have accom¬ 
plished is to intensify their characters and to increase 
their diversity in certain directions. Indeed, this is what 
takes place with nearly all plants grown for the sake of 
their floAvers, and Avhich have been long under the care of 
horticulturists. 
A valuable addition to the Auricula shows is afforded 
by the classes provided for species of Primulas, and this 
is a department that will no doubt greatly increase in 
interest. Many Primulas, apart from the useful P. 
sinensis varieties, are admirably adapted for culture in 
pots as conservatory or greenhouse plants, such as the 
graceful P. Sieboldi and its varied forms, the floriferous 
and almost continuous flowering P. obconica, Avhich is 
one of the best introductions of recent years, the small 
but free and beautiful yellow P. floribunda, the brightly 
coloured P. rosea, and the pure white P. viscosa nivea. 
Then Ave have the Primroses of innumerable tints, for 
simple grace perhaps unsurpassed in the family, in all 
stages of transition from the Primrose of our hedgerow 
banks to the Polyanthus forms and the stately laced 
Polyanthuses. Uoav effectively Primroses can be dis¬ 
played at an exhibition Avas slioAvn last Avcek at Regent's 
Park, Avliere a beautiful bank Avas formed in the corridor, 
the plants being set in moss informally, as dells or 
mounds, not in parallel roAvs as most exhibitors seem to 
consider the correct mode. The variety of colours in 
these Primroses is astonishing, and no garden Avliere 
hardy plants are prized should be Avithout some beds 
devoted to them. In richness of tints they are un¬ 
equalled ; from pure white to the deepest crimson and 
purple, all the intermediate shades are represented. 
Fcav attempts are made to form nenv groups of Primula 
varieties or hybrids. When P. japonica Avas introduced 
No. 357. —Yol. XIV. Third Series 
Nr. 201?. —Yoi.. LXXVL, Old Series. 
