ii8 CARNATIONS AND PINKS 



coloured stems, and it is found in various parts of 

 Europe on rocks and ruined walls. It is also 

 naturalised in some places, such as on the old 

 walls of Rochester and other castles, sending its long 

 and slender roots into the mortar in the cracks 

 between the stones. The fiowers vary in colour, 

 but they are always pretty. In the search for its 

 garden varieties the simple beauty of the wild species 

 must not be overlooked. Tufts of it in the rock or 

 wall garden are always interesting. 



D. chinensis is the famous Chinese Pink, a native 

 of Asia, and introduced from China — the Manchurian 

 coast — nearly two hundred years ago. The species 

 is about eighteen inches high, of branching growth, 

 and the reddish flowers scent the winds of summer 

 with their sweet fragrance. It has given rise to a 

 race of showy border plants, which show a wonderful 

 diversity of flower colour and form. Probably the 

 best known is the Japanese variety, D. Heddewigii, a 

 strain of dwarf compact plants, and there is also a 

 section with more deeply cut petals. A. c, var. den- 

 tosus (the Amur Pink), is very distinct and pretty, 

 the violet-shaded flowers, each an inch across, with 

 toothed margins and dark spots near the base of 

 the petals, giving the flower the appearance of hav- 

 ing a dark eye. The varieties are very numerous, 

 and include single and double forms, the colours 

 varying from the white of alhis to the crimson of 

 fulgens. Their culture is simple, and they may be 

 regarded as annual or biennial flowers. When to 

 be grown as annuals sow the seed in March in pots 



