GARDEN AURICULAS 
So much could be said about Auriculas but very little will 
be here, just as those who look at them find no words with 
which to express the feelings aroused by such beauty of foli- 
age, flower and fragrance. Sitwell Says it is much the same 
feeling as that of falling in love. 
That men have been fascinated by them in difficult times 
as well as good is the thread running through almost four 
hundred years of cultivation started by Emperor Maximili- 
an’s order for their collection from the surrounding Alps 
and planting in his Viennese gardens. From Vienna to the 
Low Countries, they were sent by the court botanist, a Bel- 
gian; from there they went to England with those needing 
political and religious refuge, and later to the American 
colonies. 
Following the Polyanthus in bloom, Auriculas are almost 
as large flowered, in clusters on 6 to 9 inch stalks, always 
velvet textured and deliciously scented, with thick leaves, 
often silver-mealed, making them worth growing for the 
foliage alone. No wonder men shamelessly bought them 
when they couldn’t pay—even when they didn’t intend to 
pay—according to the list of names published in one early 
nurseryman’s book which separated the sheep from the 
goats. 
PLANTS—Fragrant, velvet blooms in shades of purple and 
violet, lavender-blue, red, yellow, leather and brown, pas- 
tel tints and assorted colors. 3/$1.50, 6/$2.75, 12/$5 plus 
postage. 
Alpine Auriculas 
The Alpine Auricula’s aristocratic carriage, symmetry, 
color depth and shading, conforming to the elegant, formal 
pattern conceived a century ago, sets it apart from all other 
plants. Always restricted to two classes, the gold centers 
are burnt orange or red shades, the light centers are purple 
or loganberry. Near-perfect plants, $1 each. Perfect plants, 
(early fall delivery after seed harvest) $2.50 each. 
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