30 



THE CARNATION IN THE FLOWER- 

 GARDEN. 



By W. Robinson, F.L.S. 



After taking great pleasure in the Carnation as 

 groA\Ti by florists, with all its delicate colouring 

 and charm, I was led by various reasons to the 

 conclusion that a new departure was necessary 

 with the Carnation as a garden-flower. This may 

 take place without detriment to the " florist's " 

 interesting way of looking at and growing the 

 flower. Our flower-gardens have to a great 

 extent been void of beautiful flowers and plants. 

 Flowers ! Acres of mean little sub-tropical weeds 

 that happen to possess a coloured leaf — Coleus, 

 Alternanthera, Perilla, &c. — occupy much of the 

 ground which ought to be true flower-gardens, 

 but Avhich is too often set out in tile patterns, and 

 with plants without fragrance, beauty of form, or 

 even the charm of association. 



My view is that the flowers of our own latitudes, 

 vrhen they are beautiful, are entitled to the first 

 place in our gardens. Among these flowers, after 

 the Rose, should come the Carnation, in all its 

 beauty and brilliancy, where the soil and climate 



