Hardy Perennials and Old Fashioned Flowers Part 38

TOOTHED PRIMULA; _Nat. Ord._ PRIMULACEae.

This is one of that section of the Primrose family having stout scapes and compact heads of bloom. It is a comparatively recent introduction from the Himalayas, a true alpine, and perfectly hardy in this climate.

As a garden flower, it has much merit, blooming early and profusely. It cannot be too highly commended for its fine form as a plant and beauty as a flower, more especially as seen on rockwork. The flower buds begin in very early spring to rise on their straight round stems, new foliage being developed at the same time.

The flowers are arranged in dense round cl.u.s.ters, and are often in their finest form when nearly a foot high. They are of a light purple colour, each flower in. across, corolla prettily cupped, segments two-lobed, greenish white at bases, tube long and cylindrical, calyx about half length of tube, teeth rather long and of a dark brown colour. The scape is somewhat dark-coloured, especially near the apex. The leaves are arranged in rosette form, are lance-shaped, rolled back at the edges and toothed, also wrinkled and downy; they continue to grow long after the flowers have faded.

Delicate as the flowers seem, they stand the roughest storms without much hurt.

_P. d. major_ is a larger form in all its parts.

_P. d. nana_ is more dwarfed than the type.

_P. d. amabilis_ is a truly lovely form, having darker foliage and rosy buds; its habit, too, is even more neat and upright, and the blooming period earlier by about two weeks.

A moist position and vegetable mould suit it best, according to my experience, and the dips of rockwork are just the places for it, not exactly in the bottom, for the following reason: The large crowns are liable to rot from wet standing in them, and if the plants are set in a slope it greatly helps to clear the crowns of stagnant moisture.

Propagation is by means of offsets, which should be taken during the growing season, so that they may form good roots and become established before winter.

Flowering period, March to May.

Primula Farinosa.

MEALY PRIMROSE, _or_ BIRD'S-EYE; _Nat. Ord._ PRIMULACEae.

The pretty native species, very common in a wild state in some parts, near which, of course, it need not be grown in gardens; but as its beauty is unquestionable, and as there are many who do not know it, and evidently have never seen it, it ought to have a place in the garden. It is herbaceous and perennial. All its names are strictly descriptive. The little centre has a resemblance to a bird's eye, and the whole plant is thickly covered with a meal-like substance. Small as this plant is, when properly grown it produces a large quant.i.ty of bloom for cutting purposes.

It is 3in. to 8in. high, according to the situation in which it is grown. The flowers are light purple, only in. across, arranged in neat umbels; the corolla is flat, having a bright yellow centre; leaves small, ovate-oblong, roundly toothed, bald, and powdery beneath; the flower scapes are round and quite white, with a meal-like covering.

In stiff soil and a damp situation this little gem does well, or it will be equally at home in a vegetable soil, such as leaf mould or peat, but there must be no lack of moisture, and it is all the better for being screened from the mid-day sun, as it would be behind a hedge or low wall. So freely does it bloom, that it is not only worth a place in the garden, but repays all the trouble required to establish it in proper quarters, after which it will take care of itself, by producing offsets and seedlings in abundance.

Flowering period, April to June.

Primula Marginata.

_Syn._ P. CRENATA; MARGINED PRIMROSE; _Nat. Ord._ PRIMULACEae.

A native of Switzerland, so rich in alpine flowers; this is but a small species, yet very distinct and conspicuous (see Fig. 77). As its specific name denotes, its foliage has a bold margin, as if st.i.tched with white silken thread, and the whole plant is thickly covered with a mealy substance. So distinct in these respects is this lovely species that, with, perhaps, one exception, it may easily be identified from all others, _P. auricula marginata_ being the one that most resembles it, that species also being edged and densely covered with farina, but its foliage is larger, not toothed, and its flowers yellow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 77. PRIMULA MARGINATA.

(Two-thirds natural size.)]

_P. marginata_ has bright but light violet flowers on very short scapes, seldom more than 3in. high; these and the calyx also are very mealy. The little leaves are of various shapes, and distinctly toothed, being about the size of the bowl of a dessert spoon. They are neatly arranged in tufts on a short footstalk, which becomes surrounded with young growths, all as clear in their markings as the parent plant, so that a well grown specimen of three years or even less becomes a beautiful object, whether it is on rockwork or in a cold frame.

The flowers are produced and remain in good form for two or three weeks on strong plants, and for nearly the whole year the plant is otherwise attractive.

I scarcely need mention that such plants with mealy and downy foliage are all the better for being sheltered from wind and rain. In a crevice, overhung by a big stone, but where the rockwork is so constructed that plenty of moisture is naturally received, a specimen has done very well indeed, besides keeping its foliage dry and perfect. When such positions can either be found or made, they appear to answer even better than frames, as alpine species cannot endure a stagnant atmosphere, which is the too common lot of frame subjects. It is not very particular as to soil or situation. I grow it both in shade and fully exposed to the mid-day sun of summer, and, though a healthy specimen is grown in loam, I find others to do better in leaf mould mixed with grit and pebbles. It enjoys a rare immunity--the slugs let it alone, or at least my slugs do, for it is said that different tribes or colonies have different tastes.

To propagate it, the little offsets about the footstalk should be cut off with a sharp knife when the parent plant has finished flowering; they will mostly be found to have nice long roots. Plant in leaf soil and grit, and keep them shaded for a month.

Flowering period, March to May.

Primula Purpurea.

PURPLE-FLOWERED PRIMULA; _Nat. Ord._ PRIMULACEae.

A truly grand primrose of the same section as _P. denticulata_, coming also from an alpine habitat, viz., the higher elevations of the Himalayas. It has not long been in cultivation in this country compared with our knowledge of the Himalayan flora. It is perfectly hardy, but seems to require rather drier situations than most of the large-leaved kinds. I never saw it so fine as when grown on a hillock of rockwork in sand and leaf mould; the specimen had there stood two severe winters, and in the spring of 1881 we were gladdened by its pushing in all directions fifteen scapes, all well topped by its nearly globular heads of fine purple flowers. It begins to flower in March, and keeps on for quite a month.

The flower stems are 9in. high, stout, and covered with a mealy dust, thickest near the top and amongst the small bracts. The umbels of blossom are 2in. to 3in. across, each flower nearly in. in diameter, the corolla being salver shaped and having its lobed segments pretty well apart; the tube is long and somewhat bellied where touched by the teeth of the calyx; the latter is more than half the length of tube, of a pale green colour, and the teeth, which are long, awl shaped, and clasping, impart to the tubes of the younger flowers a fluted appearance; later on they become relaxed and leafy. The leaves have a strong, broad, pale green, shining mid-rib, are lance-shaped, nearly smooth, wavy, and serrulated; the upper surface is of a lively green colour, and the under side has a similar mealy covering to that of the scape. Flowers and leaves develope at the same time, the latter being 8in. long and of irregular arrangement.

The exceedingly floriferous character of this otherwise handsome primula renders it one of the very best subjects for the spring garden; it should have a place in the most select collections, as well as in more general a.s.semblages of plants, for not only does it take care of itself when once properly planted, but it increases fast, forming n.o.ble tufts a foot in diameter, than which few things give a finer effect or an equal quant.i.ty of flowers at a time when they are not too plentiful. As already hinted, it should have a somewhat drier position than _P.

denticulata_, but by no means should it suffer from drought, and a little shade will be beneficial. Propagated by division during the growing season, immediately after flowering being the best time.

Flowering period, March and April.

Primula Scotica.

SCOTTISH PRIMROSE; _Nat. Ord._ PRIMULACEae.

This charming little member of the British flora very much resembles the native Bird's-eye Primrose (_P. farinosa_), which is very common in some parts. It is not uniformly conceded to be a distinct species, but many botanists believe it to be such. As a matter of fact, it is different from _P. farinosa_ in several important points, though they are not seen at a mere glance. That it has darker flowers and a more dwarf and st.u.r.dy habit may, indeed, be readily seen when the two are side by side. Size and colour, however, would not in this case appear to be the most distinctive features. The seed organs differ considerably. "In _P.

farinosa_ the germen is broadly obovate and the stigma capitate; here the germen is globose and the stigma has five points." But there is another dissimilarity which may or may not prove much to the botanist, but to the lover of flowers who tries to cultivate them it is all-important. Whilst _P. farinosa_ can be easily grown in various soils and positions, in the same garden _P. Scotica_ refuses to live; so fickle, indeed, is it, that were it not a very lovely flower that can be grown and its fastidious requirements easily afforded, it would not have been cla.s.sed in this list of garden subjects. Here it begins to blossom in the middle of March at the height of 3in. In its habitats in Caithness and the north coast of Sutherland it is considerably later--April and May.

The flowers are arranged in a crowded umbel on a short stoutish scape; they are of a deep-bluish purple, with a yellow eye; the divisions of the corolla are flat and lobed; calyx nearly as long as tube, and ventricose or unevenly swollen. The whole flower is much less than _P.

farinosa_. The leaves are also smaller than those of that species; obovate, lanceolate, denticulate, and very mealy underneath.

To grow it requires not only a light but somewhat spongy soil, as peat and sand, but it should never be allowed to get dry at the roots; a top dressing during summer of sand and half decayed leaves is a great help to it, for the roots are not only then very active, going deep and issuing from the base of the leaves, but they require something they can immediately grow into when just forming, and to be protected from drought. It will be well to remember that its princ.i.p.al habitats are on the sandy sh.o.r.es, as that gives a proper idea of the bottom moisture, and, from the looseness of the sand, the drier condition of the immediate surface. My specimens have always dwindled during summer and failed to appear the following spring, excepting where such treatment as the above has been adopted. I am much indebted for these hints to several amateurs, who grow it well. That many fail with it is evidenced by the facts that it is in great demand every spring and that there are few sources of supply other than its wild home. Never was it more sought for, perhaps, than at the present time, not only by amateurs at home, but by both private and trade growers abroad. The exquisite beauty of this primrose when well grown and the technical care required to have it in that condition are both things of which any plant lover may be proud.

If once established, its propagation is scarcely an affair of the cultivator's; the self-sown seed appears to germinate with far more certainty when left alone, and, as the plants are always very small, they hardly need to be transplanted. If left alone, though they are often much less than an inch across, many will flower the first season.

Some have taken it as something of a biennial character. The treatment is at fault when it gives cause for such impressions; its perennial quality is both authorised and proved under cultivation.

Flowering period, March to May.