112 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



The fragrance of some of the species is peculiarly grateful, and 

 no plant in this respect surpasses the Clove and some other 

 varieties of the Pink. 



Dianthus caryophyllus. Carnation Pink. There is no 

 flower more desirable in the flower-garden than the Carnation. 

 A well-grown, superior variety, cannot be surpassed, in ele- 

 gance, beauty, or odor, by any other flower ; yet we scarcely 

 ever see it in perfection. Its cultivation is attended with many 

 difficulties, in our climate, which may account for its rarity. 

 Our winters are too severe, and springs too changeable, to keep 

 them in perfection in the open ground ; and then our summers 

 are too dry and hot for the full development of its beauties. 

 Seedlings stand the winter and spring without difficulty, with 

 a light covering of leaves and evergreen boughs, and flower 

 very well ; but then not one plant in a hundred will be consid- 

 ered worth saving by the florist, although they will all be inter- 

 esting as single, semi-double, or irregular flowers, and richly 

 repay all the labor. Valuable varieties are generally propa- 

 gated from layers, which often keep very well in the open ground 

 by letting them remain with the parent plant, and covering 

 them with leaves and pine boughs ; but the most certain way 

 is, when the layers have taken root, to pot them, and at the 

 approach of winter put them in a frame where they may be 

 kept with perfect safety, provided air is given them in mild 

 weather, and they are not exposed to the sun when in a frozen 

 state. The mice are very destructive to all the pink family ; 

 therefore the frame must be tight. 



Carnations are arranged by florists into three classes, viz., 

 Flakes, Bizarres, and Picotees. Flakes have two colors only ; 

 their stripes large, going quite through the petals. Bizarres 

 are variegated, in irregular spots and stripes, with not less than 

 three colors. Picotees have a white ground, spotted or pounced 

 with scarlet, red, purple, or other colors. The finer sorts are 

 regularly edged with these colors, on a clear white or yellow 

 ground. The petals of a perfect flower should be rose-leaved, 

 or with entire edges ; the flower should be filled up in a reg- 



