44 6 



DIANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. DIANTHUS. 



Cuttings should be rooted in July, and 

 the young plants grown on in pots and 

 wintered in a frame or cool greenhouse. 

 By removing the point of growth so 

 soon as the young plant is established 

 in September, and again six weeks or 

 so later, bushy plants having six or 

 eight shoots result, and towards the 

 end of the year should be potted into 

 5-inch pots. Hardily grown subse- 

 quently they will be ready for bedding 

 out in March or early April, and will 

 flower long and continuously during 

 the ensuing summer and early autumn 

 months. Stake and tie the plants as 

 necessary. 



Some thousands of these flowers were 

 grown for years at Gravetye in the 

 open, and while the result was often 

 beautiful, our cold retentive soil never 

 gave the same growth as one finds on 

 the chalk hills, on the warm limestone 

 soils of Ireland, or on the satiny loam 

 round Edinburgh. In wet winters the 

 plants, on our soil, became gouty. 

 After many years of labour in layering 

 and planting, the attempt to grow 

 named varieties in the usual way was 

 abandoned, and the plan was adopted 

 of raising seedlings, the Carnation 

 being thus treated practically as a 

 biennial. Unquestionably more vigor- 

 ous plants and more abundant and 

 continuous bloom are obtained by 

 raising the Carnation from seed, 

 though the average quality of bloom 

 may not equal that of selected and 

 named varieties. These, however, may 

 be had by wintering layers under glass 

 and planting them out in late April or 

 early May. At the same time, Car- 

 nations, however carefully managed, 

 are liable to have their blooms spoiled 

 in the open by continuous rains, so 

 that where the soil is not specially 

 favourable to Carnation growing, it 

 might be found advisable to substitute 

 the stronger-growing Pinks, which are 

 bright in colour and fragrant, and less 

 liable to decay in damp winters than 

 the Carnation. Both the Carnation 

 and the Pink, from the beauty and 

 sweetness of their bloom and the 

 cheerful effect of their foliage in winter, 

 are well deserving of cultivation in all 

 gardens where soil and climate suit 

 these flowers. Our mild and moist 

 southern winters are really less favour- 

 able to the cultivation of the Carnation 

 than the more rigorous winter of the 

 north, where a covering of snow 

 secures for the flower a complete period 

 of rest. It is damp and not cold that 



tries the constitution of the Carnation 

 in winter. 



SEEDLING RAISING. The seed-bear- 

 ing plants being carefully selected and 

 artificially pollinated is the means 

 whereby new and improved varieties 

 are obtained. It is a fascinating pur- 

 suit, albeit the number of high-class 

 novelties obtained is relatively small. 

 Some of the specialists, indeed, who 

 raise these flowers largely from seed, 

 consider a dozen first-rate sorts a fair 

 return from a batch of seedlings 3000 

 strong, so high is the standard of 

 perfection already attained, and so 

 exacting the demands of the florist. It 

 may be, however, that quite half the 

 number of those rejected may be of 

 merit, and not a few of them equal 

 to many already bearing distinctive 

 names. The phase of seedling raising 

 to which it is desired to direct atten- 

 tion at the moment, however, is that 

 whereby our gardens could be beautiful 

 to a far greater extent than is now the 

 case by raising seedling Carnations 

 periodically and systematically. A 

 layered plant gives but one flowering 

 stem each year. A well-grown per- 

 petual sort may give a dozen or more, 

 while the correctly grown seedling 

 plant, when sixteen months old, will 

 easily produce a sheaf of fifty flowering 

 stems, and often twice that number. 

 It is true that, unless the plants are 

 generously cultivated, many flowers 

 will not be high class ; but even so, 

 the magnitude of the display is beyond 

 dispute, just as the wealth of the 

 flowers and their fragrance would be 

 unparalleled. To achieve such results, 

 sow the seeds in a greenhouse tem- 

 perature in February or March, using 

 light sandy soil. Pot them singly in 

 3-inch pots when large enough, and in 

 May plant out in well-cultivated 

 ground i| or 2 feet apart. Beyond 

 the usual cultural needs, nothing more 

 will be required. A few of the more 

 precocious may attempt to flower the 

 same autumn, but the flowering spike 

 should be removed as soon as seen, 

 the object being to provide for a big 

 display in the ensuing summer. From 

 a high-class strain, 80 per cent, will 

 give double flowers, a well-flowered 

 bed constituting a fine feature in any 

 garden. By sowing a few seeds annu- 

 ally a flowering bed may be had each 

 year, and once the amateur has seen 

 the results he will hardly forgo its 

 pleasure in the future. 



