THE PINK FAMILY OUTDOORS 313 



names of Pheasant's Eye, Double Scotch pinks 

 (Scotius), and Perpetual Pink (semper ftor ens}. With 

 this class belongs the Sweet- William (dianthus bar- 

 batus}, which should be sown and treated in a like 

 manner. It is also a hardy perennial, but I find it 

 best to renew it every few years, as the flowers of young 

 plants are larger, and in spite of care, the most beau- 

 tiful hybrids will often decay at the ground. There is 

 no garden flower, excepting the Dahlia, that gives us 

 such a wealth of velvet bloom, and if you mean to 

 make a specialty of pinks, I should advise you to buy 

 a collection of Sweet- Williams in the separate colours, 

 which range from white to deepest crimson with 

 varied markings. 



Directions for sowing the biennial Chinese and 

 Japanese pinks were given in the chronicle concern- 

 ing the hardy seed bed. These pinks are not really 

 fragrant, though most of them have a pleasant apple 

 odour that, together with their wonderful range of 

 colour, makes them particularly suitable for table 

 decoration. 



In addition to the mixed colours recommended for 

 the general seed bed, the following Japanese varieties 

 are of special beauty, among the single pinks : Queen 

 of Holland, pure white; Eastern Queen, enormous 



