16 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



are held in esteem by most Carnation fanciers ; the 

 various shades of pink, rose, and salmon colours are held 

 in high estimation ; scarlet, crimson, and maroon colours 

 are appreciated by many, whilst yellow of various shades, 

 apricot colours, maize tints, and lavender tints have their 

 admirers. The quality of scent or perfume is essential, 

 and any flower that lacks perfume is far from perfect, 

 no matter what other qualities it may possess. 



Next to the selfs must be placed the flowers designated 

 fancies, or what are termed in Germany Bizarres. (The 

 British Bizarre is quite a different flower.) The flowers 

 known as "fancies" possess a wide range of colour, but 

 most of them have one or two colours irregularly marked 

 on a white, cream, apricot, or yellow ground. These were 

 doubtless the first variations from the self colours, and 

 they were generally cultivated with the selfs early in 

 the seventeenth century. Rea, writing about the middle 

 of the century, stated that the " selfs were little esteemed, 

 but those flowers are chiefly valued, which are well flaked, 

 striped, or powdered." 



Flakes and Bizarres are comprised in the section be- 

 loved of the old florists. For many years they were 

 grown to the very highest pitch of perfection as flowers 

 for exhibition. There is no positive evidence as to the 

 period when the break occurred which was the fore- 

 runner of this section. The chief beauty of a Bizarre 

 or Flake Carnation consists in the perfect form of the 

 flowers. The ground should be white, and in the case 

 of the Bizarres, the petals are marked with irregular 

 longitudinal stripes of colour. The Scarlet Bizarres are 

 marked with scarlet and maroon, evenly distributed over 



