HARDY ASIATIC PRIMULAS 
All winter long, on the stream banks at Barnhaven, the 
Asiatic Primulas sleep unseen, withdrawn into dormancy, 
covered sometimes by water, sometimes by snow, waiting. 
When at last they hear spring’s alarm and waken to the 
singing of the wood thrush in the willow nearby, the gar- 
den becomes a Chinese painting in that grace of line and 
splendor of color which is the orient. 
Often you may have wondered what to do with those dif- 
ficult shady spots, with soil that is heavy and clinging or 
always wet, but were unacquainted with these primroses 
from the mountain meadows and slopes of the Himalayas. 
For these, and many other plants and shrubs you grow, 
plant hunters have willingly pushed beyond the zones of 
safety to see for themselves and take for others the extrav- 
agant beauty of high China, India and Tibet. The Rhodo- 
dendron collector, in that comparatively small area hiding 
the panda, walks in a sea of colors and shapes; the Primula 
hunter, as he travels around deep mountain pools, through 
grasses and over wooded slopes, sights golden pheasants and 
many another fabulous creature and plant. 
In your own garden, from March through June, you can 
watch these wildflowers of Asia bloom, and understand, in 
part, why there were men who risked their lives to bring 
them out. 
24 
