DIANTHUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



DICENTRA. 



449 



Coccineus, Early Blush, Fimbriatus 

 albus (old white), the Clove Pink, Her 

 Majesty. 



All the garden or border Pinks are 

 best increased by means of pipings ; 

 no other method approaches it. The 

 latter half of June and early July is 

 the best time. A " piping" is created 

 by detaching the upper part of the 

 freshly-made shoot, and should be 

 about 3 inches in length. Grasp a 

 shoot with the left hand near the 

 ground and hold firmly. Now take 

 the upper part of the shoot by the 

 right hand, and with a sharp upward 

 pull remove it from its socket. The 

 " piping " is in your right hand. Insert 

 without more ado no "making" 

 being required in sandy soil under 

 hand-light or bell-glass. Roots are 

 emitted in three or four weeks if 

 watering has been attended to, when 

 the hand-light should be removed. In 

 early September they may be planted 

 where required. Pipings are removed 

 more readily and with greater certainty 

 if the stock plants (in dry weather) be 

 thoroughly soaked with water the day 

 previous to taking them. 



D. SINENSIS (Chinese Pink). This has 

 given rise to a race of beautiful garden 

 flowers. It is an annual, or biennial, 

 according to the way it is sown and grown. 

 If sown early the plants will flower the 

 first year ; if late, the second. On dry 

 soils, and if the winters be mild, they will 

 live for two or three years. The varieties, 

 both single and double, are now very 

 numerous and beautiful, and may be 

 classed under D. Heddewigi and D. lacini- 

 atus. The forms of Heddewigi, the 

 Japanese variety, are dwarf and hand- 

 some, while there are double-flowered 

 forms, particularly diadematus, the flowers 

 of which are large and very double. The 

 petals of the laciniated section are very 

 deeply cut into a fine fringe. Of this class 

 there are also double-flowered forms. The 

 colours of both are much varied, and there 

 are striped crimson and white sorts. Two 

 beautiful and distinct selected sorts, 

 Crimson Belle and Eastern Queen, are 

 among the best varieties. Sow D. sinensis 

 under glass in February, with very little 

 or no bottom-heat ; give air freely during 

 open weather, and in April plant out in 

 well-cultivated soil, which need not be 

 rich. Place the plants 9 to 12 inches 

 apart each way, and they will form com- 

 pact tufts. Encourage the laterals by 

 pinching off decayed flowers, and the result 

 will be a mass of blossom throughout the 

 summer, and probably till November. 

 These Pinks are admirable for the flower 

 garden, either in beds by themselves or 

 mixed ; they may be well used with taller 



plants of a different character dotted 

 sparsely among them. 



D. SUPERBUS (Fringed Pink). A fra- 

 grant wild Pink, easily known by its petals 

 being cut into strips for more than half 

 their length. It inhabits many parts of 

 Europe from Norway to the Pyrenees, 

 and is a true perennial, though it perishes 

 so often in gardens that many regard it as 

 a biennial. It is more likely to perish in 

 winter on rich and moist soil than on poor 

 and light soil, and when it is desired to 

 establish it as a perennial, it should be 

 planted in fibry loam, well mixed with 

 sand or grit. It grows, however, on nearly 

 any soil, and by raising it every year from 

 seed an abundant stock may be kept up 

 even where the plant perishes in winter. 



DIAPENSIA (D. lapponica) is a 

 sturdy and dwarf evergreen alpine 

 shrub, often under 2 inches in height, 

 growing in dense rounded tufts, having 

 narrow, closely-packed leaves, and 

 bearing in summer solitary white 

 flowers about half an inch across. It 

 may be grown well on fully exposed 

 spots on the rock garden, in deep, 

 sandy, and stony peat which is kept 

 well moistened during the warm 

 season. N. Europe and N. America, 

 on high mountains or in Arctic latitudes. 



DIASCIA. A pretty group of herbs 

 from S. Africa, allied to Alonsoa. The 

 only kind in cultivation is D. Barbara, 

 a neat annual 9 to 12 inches high, 

 with square stems and small wedge- 

 shaped leaves. Raised in heat in 

 spring and planted out in May, it 

 flowers until late autumn, the soft 

 coral-pink flowers with two spurs. 

 Though mostly treated as a half-hardy 

 annual, the roots are perennial in the 

 warm soils of southern gardens, spread- 

 ing by stolons into handsome tufts. 

 Seeds. 



DICENTRA (Bleeding Heart}. 

 Graceful plants of the Fumitory order, 

 including about half a dozen cultivated 

 species, of which the finest are : 



D. CHRYSANTHA. This handsome plant 

 forms a spreading tuft of rigid glaucous 

 foliage, from which arises a stiff leafy 

 stem, 3 to 4 feet high, with long branching 

 panicles of bright golden-yellow blossoms, 

 about i inch long in August and Septem- 

 r. It seems hardy in light rich soil if 

 warm and sheltered. Seed. California. 



D. CUCULLARIA (Dutchman's-breeches) 

 and D. thalictnfolia are less important, 

 and rather belong to the curious garden. 



D. EXIMIA combines a Fern-like grace 

 with the flowering qualities of a good 

 hardy perennial. From i to i feet high, 

 with numerous reddish-purple blossoms in 

 ong drooping racemes. It is useful for 



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