DIANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



DIANTHUS. 



549 



found effectual. The gout is a swelling 

 of the stem close to the surface of the 

 ground, which eventually bursts, supposed 

 to be caused by little worms which eat their 

 way into the collar of the plant and lay 

 eggs there which hatch worms that feed 

 upon and eventually kill the plant. The 

 Maggot is a small insect with great 

 powers for mischief It comes in the 

 spring from an &^^ laid no doubt in the 

 skin or tissues of the leaf, and, eating its 

 way down under the skin of the leaf, it 

 makes a home in the main stem of the 

 plant, eating out the centre and killing it. 



Pink requires peculiar treatment, as in 

 winter it perishes in the ordinary border, 

 while quite happy on an old wall. It is 

 a native of Europe and Britain (the rocks 

 at Cheddar, in Somersetshire). To 

 establish it on the top or any part of an 

 old wall sow the seeds on the wall in a 

 little cushion of Moss, if such exists, or, if 

 not, place a little earth in a chink with 

 the seed, and it may also be grown upon 

 the rock-garden, in firm, calcareous, or 

 gritty earth, placed in a chink between 

 two small rocks. 



D, deltoides {Maiden Pink). — A pretty 



Dianthus neglectus (Glacier Pink). 



The only remedy appears to be diligently 

 searching for and hunting it out before 

 it has traversed the leaf Wire-worm 

 is a pest to be reckoned with, but usually 

 only gives trouble in fresh soil. Spittle 

 fly, which appears when the flower-spikes 

 are growing, must be destroyed, or it will 

 do serious harm. An open situation and 

 a well-drained soil are conditions un- 

 favourable to the spot diseases, whilst 

 rotation in planting keeps the stock free 

 from the worm pests and maggots. 



D. csesius {Cheddar Pink).— One of 

 the neatest and prettiest of the dwarf 

 Pinks, the fragrant and rosy flowers 

 appearing in spring, on stems 6 in. high, 

 and in good soil sometimes taller. This 



native plant, with bright pink-spotted or 

 white flowers, on stems from 6 to 12 in. long. 

 It grows almost anywhere, in borders or 

 on rockwork, does not appear to suffer 

 from wire-worm, like most other Pinks, 

 and often flowers several times during the 

 summer. It may be readily raised from 

 seed, and is easily increased by division. 

 The variety glauca has white flowers with 

 a pink eye. It is abundant on Arthur's 

 Seat, near Edinburgh, and forms a 

 charming contrast to the crimson kind. 



D. dentosus {Amoor Pink). — A distinct 

 and pretty dwarf Pink, with violet-lilac 

 flowers, more than i in. across, the margins 

 toothed, and the base of each petal having 

 a regular dark-violet spot, which forms a 



