244 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  19,  1903. 
indebted  for  the  fact  that  Primroses,  along  with  Violets  and 
Camomile,  were  planted  on  seats  or  banks — “  Witness  the 
Primrose  bank  whereon  I  lie.” 
Gerarde  describes  Primroses  in  the  chapter  on  Cowslips, 
and  seems  to  have  thought  the  last-named  the  more  im¬ 
portant  flower.  At  that  early  date  the  double  white  form 
of  the  Primrose  was  already  a  garden  plant.  Of  Cowslips 
he  indicates  the  foim  “  Two  in  a  hose  ”  (or  “  Hose-in-hose,” 
as  we  now  call  them),  and  also  one  “  lately  come  into  our 
gardens,  whose  flowers  are  curled  and  wrinkled  after  a  most 
strange  manner,  which  our  women  have  named  Jack-a-napes 
on  horsebacke.”  This  name  is  derived,  curiously  enough, 
from  an  old  playing  card,  one  of  these  having  been  called 
Jack-a-napes.  A  popular  variety  must  have  been  that 
called  the  green  Primrose.  It  is  fully  described  by  Parkin¬ 
son,  as  also  its  double  form.  Spenser  mentions  the  flower 
in  the  lines. 
Upon  her  head  a  Cromosin  coronet, 
With  Dainaske  Roses  and  Daffadillies  set. 
Bay  leaves  betweene, 
And  Primroses  grecne. 
Embellish  the  sweete  Violet. 
There  were  also  green  Cowslips,  and  while  Tusser  com¬ 
mends  “  Paggles  greene  and  yellow  for  windows  and  pots,” 
Primroses  are  found  only  among  herbs  for  the  kitchen. 
These  old-fashioned  folks  had  indeed  a  strange  liking  for 
sweet  scented  flowers,  e.g.,  Gilliflowers,  Violets,  and  Prim¬ 
roses,  the  commonest  method  of  using  them  being  as  pre¬ 
serves,  which  lasted  the  year  round,  and  were  eaten  daily 
as  salads. 
As  flowers  they  were  so  much  improved  by  1629  that 
Parkinson  could  write  of  them  :  “  We  have  so  great  variety 
of  Primroses  and  Cowslips  of  our  owne  countrey  breeding 
that  strangers,  being  much  delighted  with  them,  have  beene 
often  furnished  into  divers  countries,  to  their  good  content.” 
But  it  is  not  till  1665,  when  that  delightful  old  florist,  John 
Rea,  who  had  devoted  “fourty  years”  to  that  lovely  re¬ 
creation,  gardening,  wrote  of  the  plants  he  loved,  that  we 
find  any  great  variety,  and  these,  as  he  assures  us,  were 
all  introductions  from  the  continent. 
In  single  varieties  he  mentions  “  the  red,  there  being 
the  greatest  diversities  of  reds,  some  deeper  and  others 
lighter,  from  blond  red  to  pale  Pink  colour.”  Others  com¬ 
prised  a  “  blewish  Rose  colour,  brick  colour,  Dore  colour, 
others  of  the  colour  of  an  old  Buff  coat,  and  some  hair 
colovir.”  Two  possessed  names,  viz.,  “  The  fair  red  Prim¬ 
rose,”  shining  velvet  colour,  and  “  The  Scarlet  Primrose,” 
bright  scarlet.  Doubles  were  as  yet  uncommon,  the  double 
red  the  rarest  of  all  kinds.  It  was  as  large  as  the  common 
pale  yellow,  but  so  rare  that  Rea  himself  had  never  seen 
it,  and  we  can  well  imagine  how  the  old  man  would  long  to 
gain  possession  of  so  coveted  a  novelty.  Of  Cowslips  and 
Oxlips  there  were  also  a  great  variety ;  but  it  is  quite  clear 
that  it  could  not  have  been  much  earlier  than  about  this 
date  that  any  great  variety  of  colour  in  Primroses  were 
known  in  England. 
Nor  does  it  appear  that  there  was  any  improvement  for 
many  years  afterwards.  So  late  as  Miller’s  time,  a  hundred 
years  later,  he  knew  only  the  double  yellow,  white,  and  red, 
with  a  variety  of  single  forms.  The  latter,  indeed,  were 
very  largely  cultivated,  and  formed  one  of  the  flowers  used 
for  furnishing  wildernesses,  the  medium  of  wild  gardening 
when  George  I.  was  king  ;  when  Jemmy  Thomson  left  the 
banks  of  the  Tweed  to  settle  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames 
and  sing  in  the  seasons  “  of  yon  mingled  wilderness  of 
flowers,  the  Daisy,  Primrose,  Violet,  darkly  blue,  and  Poly¬ 
anthus  of  uuuumbered  dyes.”— R.  P.  Brotherston. 
Some  Spring-flowering  Crocuses. 
The  collection  of  spring  flowering  Crocus  exhibited  by  Messrs. 
Cxitbush  and  Son,  Highgate  Nur.series,  at  a  late  meeting  of  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society  afforded  an  opportunity  for  select¬ 
ing  a  few  of  the  finest  and  most  distinct  varieties  in  their  sec¬ 
tions  of  colour.  The  collection  has  been  grown  in  pots  under 
glass,  and  the  conditions  of  culture  favoured  fine  development. 
They  served  to  recall  the  time,  now  some  forty  years  since,  when  ) 
a  show  of  early  flowering  bulbs  was  always  a  spring  fixture  with 
the  R.H.S.,  and  a  most  charming  exhibition  was  provided  in  the 
conservatory  at  South  Kensington.  Those  were  the  days  when 
Mr.  James  Cutbush  of  Highgate,  and  Mr.  William  Paul  of 
Waltham  Cross,  used  to  have  those  interesting  encounters  with 
Hyacinths  and  Tulips,  and  when  these  popular  spring  flowers 
were  staged  characterised  by  the  highest  development.  It  was 
therefore  in  keeping  with  things  that  the  sons  of  one  of  the 
worthies  above-named  should  demonstrate  that  the  art  of  bulb 
culture  is  by  no  means  a  lost  one  at  Highgate'. 
It  is  curious  to  note  the  persistence  of  some  of  the  popular 
varieties  of  Crocus.  C.  aureus,  the  large  yellow  Crocus,  ha.s  been 
in  cultivation  for  a  very  long  time.  It  was  being  grown  when 
the  last  century  was  young,  and  it  will  outlive  the  present  one. 
It  does  not  appear  to  have  undergone  any  change  of  character ; 
call  the  yellow’  Crocus  by  what  name  you  w  ill,  it  Is  still  C.  aureus. 
In  the  early  fifties  attempts  were  made  to  produce  somei  new 
yellow  flowered  varieties,  and  they  appeared  in  catalogues  for  a 
time;  but  if  at  all  novel  they  did  not  pos.sess  lasting  qualities,, 
as  they  become  merged  in  the  common  yellow.  As  the  corms 
of  this  popular  sort  will  grow  to  a  very  large  .size,  it  is  custo¬ 
mary  on  the  part  of  those  who  supply  them  to  grade  them  into 
four  sizes,  viz.,  extra  size,  first  size,  second  size,  and  third  size, 
the  price  varying  accordingly ;  but  they  are  all  the  same  variety.. 
At  one  time  the  yellow  Crocus  was  somewhat  largely  grow’n  in- 
Lincolnshire  and  Cambridgeshire  for  sale  in  the  form  of  dry 
bulbs. 
Two  early  flowering  .species  may  be  mentioned  in  this  rela¬ 
tion  ;  one  is  the  yellow’  C.  susianus,  w’hich  is  to  be  found  in  cata¬ 
logues  under  the  name  of  Cloth  of  Gold.  It  blooms  freely,  and 
its  yellow  blos.soms  arei  reticulated  w’ith  dark  lines  on  the  ex¬ 
terior,  and  .is  known  as  C.  reticulatus  by  .some.  With  it  blooms 
C.  biflorus,  known  as  the  Scotch  tDrocus,  and  w’ith  the  Cloth  of 
Gold  slightly  precedes  C.  aureus  in  flowering.  But  these  two- 
early  flowering  species  are  not  so  largely  imported  from  Holland 
as  they  used  to  be.  They  both  have  peculiar  shaped  bulbs,  and 
can  be  readily  di.stinguished  in  a  dry  state.  C.  aureus,  the 
common  yellow  Crocus,  is  the  earliest  of  the  popular  -flow’ering 
varietias  to  bloom. 
Of  the  white  varieties  in  the  Highgate  collection,  I  thought 
Queen  of  Whites  the  finest;  compared  with  Mont  Blanc,  which 
is  regarded  by  many  as  the'  finest  white  variety,  it  appeared  to 
be  both  larger  and  purer.  They  are  both  very  fine.  Grand 
Conquereur  appeared  tb  be  remarkably  free  of  bloom,  even  for 
a  Crocus ;  it  comes  near  to  Mont  Blanc.  Rosa  Bonheur  is  pure 
in  the  blossoms,  but  rather  smaller  than  some ;  Caroline  Chis¬ 
holm  is  a  small  free  flowering,  but  old  w’hite  Crocus,  having  the 
peculiarity  of  throwing  its  orange  stamens  w’ell  above  its  snowy 
blossoms'. 
We  are  yet  in  want  of  a  thoroughly  good  and  distinctly  blue 
Crocus ;  the  blue  of  Scilla  siberica  is  what  is  required ;  violet 
and  lilac,  both  more  or  less  deeply  shaded,  are  the  prevailing 
tints  of  our  blue  Crocus.  Tlie  finest  blue  in  regard  to  size  and 
form  in  the  Highgate  collection  was  Purpureus  grandiflorus, 
in  colour  pale  violet-purple.  There  appears  to  be  a.  spurious 
form  of  this  variety  in  cultivation,  so  purchasers  should  stipu¬ 
late  when  they  order  it  that  they  have  it  true  to  character.  Mr. 
Thackeray  is  like  it,  but  as  shown,  appeared  to  be  smaller  in  size. 
Othello  w’as  the  darkest  in  colour  on  the  exterior,  but  lacked  the 
size  of  the  two  iDreceding  varieties.  Baron  de  Brunnow’  is  of  a 
rather  paler  violet  tint,  and  pleasing  in  colour.  King  of  the 
Blues  appears  to  be  distanced  by  both  Purpureus  grandifloru.s- 
and  Mr.  Thackeray.  Ne  Plus  Ultra,  blue  edged  with  w’hite,  is  an 
old  but  distinct  Crocus.  I  have  at  times  seen  it  much  more 
deeply  edged  w’ith  white  than  the  form  shown  in  Messrs.  Cht- 
bush  and  Sons’  collection.  Dandy,  in  the  same  way,  did  not 
differ  from  it. 
The  striped  varieties  may,  for  the  .sake  of  convenience,  be 
grouped  into  two'  sections,  viz.,  dark  .striped  and  light  striped, 
though,  in  some  soils,  the  two  nearly  approach  each  other.  The 
finest  striped  forms  at  thei  Drill  Hall  were  Garibaldi,  pale,  rather 
than  dark  striped,  of  large  globular  form,  flaked  and  pencilled 
with  violet;  La  Majesteuse,  marked  in  the  same  way,  was 
smaller ;  Lady  Stanhope  and  Madame  Mina,  are  two  attractive 
pale-striped  varieties;  and  Sir  Walter  Scott  is.one  of  the  very  best 
for  planting  in  the  open  border  of  the  dark-striped  varieties. 
Pride  of  Albion  is  one  of  the  finest,  and  there  is  a  blue  form  of 
it  also.  The  old  Cloth  of  Silver  (C.  versicolor)  is  now'  but  little 
grown — it  is  not  so  free  of  bloom  as  some  of  the  striped  forms  of 
C.  vernu.s — but  a  little  earlier  to  flower.  Some  years  ago 
seedlings  from  this  .species  were  sent  to  this  country  more  or  less 
like  the  type,  but  they  made  no  position  for  thenifselves,  thoiigh. 
great  things  were  anticipated  of  some  of  them. 
Anyone  having  a  greenhouse,  even  if  unheated,  can  find  great 
delight  in  growing  a  collection  of  Crocuses  in  pots,  placing  six 
bulbs  in  a  4in  or  5in  pot.  The  cost  of  a  collection  is  but  .sanall. 
They  can  be  potted  during  October  in  good  soil,  and  then  left  tO' 
take  their  chance.  I  have  in  this  way  grow'ii  a  small  collection, 
and  find  them  full  of  interest.  As  soon  as  the  flowers  begin  to 
colour,  a  fertiliser  is  found  helpful  in  imparting  size  and  finish  to 
the  blooms. — R.  Dean. 
