335 
iunSs surrounded by the familiar little 
ground ivy or Gill-over-the-ground. This 
free-growing little plant hung over the 
sides gracefully, and the box was a beau¬ 
tiful thing. Brilliant red nasturtiums 
would be just as pretty as geraniums, 
The advantages of boxes are that they 
are easily kept free from weeds, they are 
away from chickens, require little heavy 
labor, and are easily watered in dry 
weather, besides being very decorative in 
Primula Ifelacoides—Baby Pri-mrose 
effect. You will want boxes, anyhow, 
and if you can have flower borders and 
gardens, so much the better. Bur if you 
cannot have these, you can at least have 
some flowers this Summer by growing 
them in porch, window or lawn boxes. 
Discarded metal tubs and hot warer 
tanks are excellent things to hold mois¬ 
ture. and are durable, but they are not 
pretty. Hide them with slabs, rocks or 
the plants themselves if you want to use 
them. 
Plan your box now. and start your 
seeds in a sunny window in the house in 
March or early April, so that the plants 
will be ready to set out as soon as frost 
danger is over. Make the soil rich and 
line iu your box and put a layer of leaf 
mold from the woods over the top. This 
keeps the soil from baking, helps to hold 
moisture, and makes your box prettier 
while the plants are small. They show 
up so much better with the dark earth 
around them. This little flower garden, 
complete in itself, will give you a great 
deal of pleasure in return for a small cost 
for box, seeds and labor. 
RI TTI II. ASHLEY. 
The Primrose and Its Culture 
Many varieties of the Primula l prim¬ 
rose) are among the best of Winter- 
blooming house plants. They are quite 
easily grown from seed. There tire sev¬ 
eral varieties of primrose which will 
thrive in any available windows, from 
cellar to attic, if the room is not too 
warm. They arc not particular to the 
exposure, doing well in any one with a 
cool temperature. 
Primula sinensis fimbriata t Chinese 
fringed primrose) is beautiful and em¬ 
braces many different colors; white, white 
tinted pink, lavender, pink, red and blue. 
The foliage is a rich green on white or 
light-colored flowering plants, while the 
dark-flowering plants have ml stems and 
leaves tinted red on under side, which are 
all cut and fringed. This year I have a 
novelty in this variety of primrose: one 
plant has a white border on the foliage 
and beautiful pink flowers. 1 had never 
seen one like it before. The Chinese prim¬ 
rose is of easiest culture and will bloom 
very freely in simply a strong light. A 
little sunlight, of course, heightens the 
tints in the colored sorts All the colored 
sorts will develop their colors best when 
grown in a temperature of 60 degrees or 
less, and will bloom iu a temperature of 
•15 or 50 degrees if they get sun part of 
the day. I grow my primroses in the at¬ 
tic windows until they come into full 
bloom, then take them to parts of the 
house where they will be seen and en¬ 
joyed. The windows where these grow 
face the southeast and have weather 
strips to keep out the cold winds, and by 
placing paper next the glass on very cold 
Oh* RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
nights they will stand the coldest weather 
and do well. 
Other varieties of primroses are Pri¬ 
mula obconica grnndiflora and Primula 
melacoides (baby primrose). The first- 
named is a very profuse bloomer, bear¬ 
ing on lopg stems suitable for cutting 
large heads of beautiful flowers of differ¬ 
ent colors and tints. It is an ever-bloom¬ 
ing variety, with true primrose fragrance. 
One peculiarity of this variety, the Ob- 
couica, is that it is poison to some per¬ 
sons. T dare not touch them without 
gloves on. If I touch them with the bare 
hand, in an hour or two an eruption ap¬ 
pears. and is very annoying and itchy. 
The flowers, though, are so pretty that 
they are worth putting on a pair of gloves 
for. 
The baby primrose has proved to be a 
good Winter-blooming plant. It blooms 
in wonderful profusion, having as many 
as 50 spikes of beautiful tiny flowers of it 
delicate lavender, with a light feathery 
foliage. The flowers are produced oil 
whorls on tall, graceful spikes, and are 
quite pretty mixed in a bouquet with the 
Obconica primrose. The baby primrose 
requires a stronger light, a cooler tem¬ 
perature and more moisture than the 
other sorts. 
The Primulas are all very easily raised 
from seed. Sow the seed in shallow 
boxes of light soil early in .May, Do not 
put any soil on the seeds of the Obconica 
and baby Primulas, and very little <m the 
Chinese seed; they are not as fine a seed 
as the other sorts. Dampen several thick¬ 
nesses of old cloth and lay over the seed, 
and keep moist by sprinkling with water, 
Sineni is Fimbriata—Chinese 
Primrose 
not allowing the cloth to get dry. Cover 
The pans over with glass. As soon as the 
seeds germinate, remove the cloth, but 
keep covered with the glass until the 
plants are getting their third leaf. It 
fakes the seed 15 to 20 days to germin¬ 
ate. Wheu the plants have their third 
leaf they are ready to be transplanted to 
other boxes of the same soil. I.ater plant 
them in o-in. pots, to give plenty of room 
for the pretty leaves to spread. They 
must not be crowded. Provide good drain¬ 
age. and pot in good, porous soil. Pot 
them moderately firm and just deep 
enough to hold them firmly upright. The 
Chinese primrose is inclined to fall to <>ue 
side when the blooms appear, for they are 
so heavy, It is a good plan to stick some 
small twigs about the plants iu the soil 
to hold the plants upright. Turn the 
plants often to keep them in symmetrical 
shape. 
A good compost for pottiug primroses 
is formed of two parts garden loam, two 
parts leaf mold, one part sand and one 
part tim- well-rotted cow manure, the 
whole thorough!,v mixed. Keep the young 
plants iu a shady location during the 
Summer. They should not have the after¬ 
noon sun. Remove them to the house 
when danger of frost in the Fall. Put 
them where they will be cool till they 
come into bloom, when they may be taken 
to any window. The first two Primulas 
named are perennial greenhouse plants 
and will bloom well for two years. The 
baby primrose does best started new each 
Primula Obconica—Second Winter 
year. To keep the plants for the second 
year, pick off all the flower heads in May, 
and let get thoroughly dry for a week, 
then gradually water; give water until 
t Continued on page .3.30) 
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