Hardy and Half-hardy Plants 17 



return. Potted in September or October and gently forced, the Canterbury 

 Bell is useful also a pot market plant for decoration. 



The Peach-leaved Campanula (C. persicifolia) in blue and white varieties 

 is also useful in much the same way. It is, however, a true perennial, 

 delights in cool spots and moisture-laden soils, and abhors drought. 



[E. H. j.] 



Carnations, Border. So called, doubtless, because of their hardiness 

 and amenability to cultivation in the open air. The original wild species 

 (Dianthus Caryophyllus). from which all the border types have been evolved 

 by the gardener, is a hardy plant indigenous to this country. It is usually 

 found on old walls and ruins, its root fibres tightly wedged in mortar 

 crevices. From this it may be inferred that the carnation is a lime-loving 

 subject, and the deduction is reasonable and correct. The Perpetual Flower- 

 ing Carnation is dealt with in the following section. 



The border Carnation produces at or near the ground level prostrate 

 evergreen tufts of growth, and in this way differs unmistakably from the 

 "perpetual" types which are usually of a tall habit of growth and produce 

 successional growths or shoots upon their stems. 



Within the limits of the border section proper a wide range of classes 

 is found: "selfs" of many shades, as crimson, rose, scarlet, white, pink; 

 "fancies", which have a yellow, white, cream, or apricot ground, and petals 

 marked by one or more colour shades or a suffusion of them. The " Picotee", 

 both white and yellow grounds, falls naturally into the border section of 

 these flowers, as do also the "Flakes", "Bizarres", and others of the show 

 class so beloved of old-time florists. 



Culturally, and for exhibition work in particular, the whole of these 

 require to be pot-grown, and flowered either in a cold, well-ventilated 

 greenhouse, or, what is almost equally good and a hundred times cheaper, 

 an improvised canvas-screened shed. In such circumstances the flowers 

 expand more gradually, and are more enduring. It is important that the 

 screen be not sufficiently heavy to obscure much light, which would speedily 

 out-characterize the flowers. What is needed is a roof screen alone, to 

 keep off hail, rain, and the great heat of the moment, the sides being quite 

 open. For garden decoration the plants should be massed together in beds 

 or groups of one colour, at all times keeping the high-coloured cerise 

 shades apart from those of pale pink or salmon. 



Generally speaking, in the matter of soils the carnation prefers a rather 

 heavy loam, so fibrous and conservative of texture that it is not possible 

 to reduce it readily to dust-like particles. The lightest and sandiest of 

 soils the carnation plant abhors, and, as a fact, it is shortlived in them. 

 The heavier soils should be freely charged with old mortar rubble or 

 burnt lias clay the latter excellent where procurable. Bone meal at the 

 rate of 6-in. pot to 2 bus. of soil is a good and lasting fertilizer, but 

 should be mixed with the soil some few weeks in advance of being 

 required. 



Commercially, the Border Carnation resolves itself into two or three 

 VOL. II. 17 



