PINKS 83 



pink has ceased to be a fashionable show flower, there 

 is some chance of its more rational development. 

 The material out of which it can be developed is very 

 varied. There is a great number of wild species of 

 pinks, many of them most valuable garden plants, 

 and most of them quite easy to grow. It is of these 

 that we propose to speak in some detail, since they 

 are less known to the ordinary gardener than they 

 ought to be, and since the florist makes less use of 

 them than he should. Unfortunately there is a great 

 deal of confusion about their names, due, no doubt, 

 to the extreme readiness with which they hybridize. 

 It is difficult to distinguish species from varieties, 

 and the same pink has often different names in different 

 nurserymen's catalogues. 



Dianthus plumarius is the best known of all the 

 natural species and the parent of most garden pinks. 

 It is very variable and hybridizes readily with other 

 species. If a number of plants are raised from seed, 

 very probably not two will be exactly alike in their 

 flowers or in their habit. The type has fringed flowers 

 of a pink colour slightly tinged with mauve. The 

 best plan is to raise it from seed and to keep only the 

 best plants. Seedlings are sometimes neat and com- 

 pact in growth, sometimes straggling. Their flowers 

 vary in size, colour, and shape. The amateur who 

 will persevere in raising seed year after year from his 

 best specimens may in time come to have some very 

 fine plants. D. plumarius will thrive anywhere in 

 full sun and well-drained soil, and is particularly use- 



