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The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



FEBRUARY 17, ISHS. 



iWh 



AMERICAN CARNATIONS. 



Just at this time when the air is full 

 of carnation talk and convention top- 

 ics the eye intuitively surveys the 

 whole carnation fiekl, takes retrospec- 

 tive glances down "the vista of tiie 

 years that have passed" and incident- 

 ally reviews the past once more in the 

 light of present day wisdom to measure 

 the extent of progress. And what a 

 forward march of progress it has heen. 

 Within a comparatively limited num- 

 ber of years we have seen evolved a 

 race of carnations peculiarly and truly 

 American, a race showing marked dis- 

 tinctive features when brought into 

 comparison with other types promi- 

 nent in the great carnation family in 

 those countries where for centuries it 

 has been a cherished flower. I said 

 for centuries because there are records 

 to show that the carnation was culti- 

 vated in England during the reign of 

 Edward III. (1327-13.57), and you jiiay 

 see beautiful carnations portrayed in 

 some of the flower pictures of the early 

 Dutch painters. But European carna- 

 tions are for the most part summer va- 

 rieties, and although they have a win- 

 ter flowering race called "tree" or 

 "perpetual blooming carnations," it is 

 not of such relative importance in 

 sustaining the love for and popularity 

 of the flower. Here the conditions are 

 exactly opposite. It is as a winter 

 flower that the carnation has won the 

 affections and the lasting regard of 

 thousands. 



All along the carnation has shown 

 an amenability to development along 

 divergent lines, hence the many types 

 or forms in cultivation in the oid 

 world, hence also the possibility that 

 after 500 years we should see origin- 

 ated here a race that has no exact 

 counterpart elsewhere and meets our 

 necessities to the fullest degree by ad- 

 apting itself to different "conditions 

 climatic and otherwise. Burns, in one 

 of his poems, asks that some power 

 might be given us to "see ourselves 

 as others see us." Just now, then, in 

 this season of mutual admiration of the 

 race of American carnations it might 

 be advisable to find out how others 

 see them. 



Referring to a paper I read at Mad- 

 ison on carnations, and which was 

 printed in the London Garden last Au- 

 gust, a large carnation grower remark- 

 ed in a subsequent issue: "The article 

 is interesting from an American point 

 of view, but it is not very practical 

 for this country, as the type of flower 

 that is admired in America is totally 

 different from that which we consider 



beautiful here. Take any of the beat 

 American carnations, they have all 

 papery petals with the roughest possi- 

 ble edges; they are most of them, it 

 is true, nicely scented. If an amateur 

 wishes to please his own fancy only, 

 he may, of course, indulge in Ameri- 

 can or raw-edged varieties to his 

 heart's content, but should be wish to 

 be successful in the exhibition tent it 

 is imperative that he discard anything 

 of this sort. He must see that his dow- 

 ers are perfect in form: that the petals 

 lie flat all round with perfectly smooth 

 edges; that the calyx is unsplit: that 

 the colors are bright and that the stems 



In other words to the above — No 

 Americans need apply for recognition 

 at the court where the carnation sits 

 enthroned across the water. But will 

 this vision of our carnations as others 

 see them bring gloom and sorrow to 

 those who have labored so well over 

 here? I think not. The only regrets 

 will be of a sympathetic kind that our 

 friends across the water cannot see 

 farther. The above quoted remarks 

 were not allowed to pass unchallenged 

 in the pages where they appeared. We 

 see the essential requisites of a carna- 

 tion detailed and how do ours compare 

 with them? Flowers should be perf';ct 

 in form, stem self-supporting, colors 

 bright, calyx unsplit (although one- 

 half the English carnations are toli'r- 

 ated with split calyces), but herein 

 alone we differ; the petals must be 

 smooth edged and flat before the va- 

 rieties can hope for recognition from 

 the powers that be or that claim to 

 set the national standard of form. The 

 serrate-edge is the bugbear of carna- 

 tion societies in England and I know 

 only too well that the judges ignore 



New White Carnation Evelina. 



are strong and able to support the 

 blooms, etc. ***** Amateurs 

 may, however, take this as a golden 

 rule that it is of no earthly use their 

 placing any American or rough edged 

 flowers in their show stands in any 

 high class competition, for the jud.ges 

 simply ignore them." 



them, having been a victim on more 

 than one occasion, and been passed for 

 exhibits distinctly inferior but "cor- 

 rect" in form. 



The absurdity of all this is the more 

 apparent when you look into the his- 

 tory of carnations. In the pictures be- 

 fore mentioned you see fringed flowers 



