CHAPTER VIII 

 THE GARDEN PINK 



THIS is the Feathered Pink (Dianthus plumarius) or 

 Pheasant's Eye. It is said to have been introduced to 

 English gardens from Eastern Europe in 1629. In Rea's 

 Flora, published in 1665, it is said to have been pretty 

 generally cultivated. Rea says that there were many 

 sorts, and they were used as edgings to borders. "The 

 flowers were used for posies, mixed with the buds of 

 Damask Roses ; most of them are single, and there are 

 some that bear double flowers, the best, those which are 

 called feathered Pinks ; they have broad leaves deeply cut 

 in, and jagged at the edges, whereof there is white, light 

 red, and bright purple, and some with a deeper or paler 

 spot in the middle ; the best of these are the feathered 

 Pink of Austria, etc." Rea further adds that : " The Pinks 

 flower with Roses in June, and every ordinary gardener 

 knows how to plant and dispose them." It will be seen 

 from the above quotations that the Pink, from its first intro- 

 duction, rapidly took its place as a garden flower, and that 

 varieties at this early date had taken on the colour form of 

 our modern laced Pinks. They had the centre blotch, but 

 it is not stated that they had the marginal colour to the 

 petals. Doubtless many varieties were raised from seeds, 

 and as all of them have a delightful fragrance, they would 



