190 HARDY PERENNIAL PLANTS. 



DIANTHUS Carnation, Pink. 



There are nearly a hundred distinct species, many of which are in cul- 

 tivation. Most of them are desirable as border or rockery plants. They 

 usually make dense tufts of grassy-like growths. Nearly all have attrac- 

 tive flowers. D. alpinus and D. glacialis are true Alpine plants, seldom 

 seen in cultivation, and thriving indifferently. D. barbatus is the Sweet 

 William. There are innumerable forms in cultivation. Good strains are 

 secured from seed. D. csesius (Cheddar Pink) stands our hot Summers 

 well a useful species for the rockery. D. deltoides and D. d. alba (Maiden 

 Pink), should be raised indoors during the Autumn months and planted 

 out early. A very free blooming species, D. petrasus (Rock Pink), grows 

 about 6 inches high. D. plumarius is the parent of the garden Pinks, of 

 which there are many named double sorts in cultivation. They are prop- 

 agated by cuttings taken in the Fall; they root very readily in cold 

 frames. Care must be taken to plant them out before they start into 

 growth in the Spring. C. chinensis, the Chinese Pink, is a biennial, and 

 to have it at its best it should be treated as such instead of as an annual. 

 When sown in Spring the plants will flower during Summer, but not 

 nearly as abundantly as from Autumn-raised plants. The varieties from 

 this species are numerous; all of the kinds are desirable, making very 

 handsome border plants of moderate size. 



DIANTHUS CARYOPHYLLUS. 



This is the species from which the Carnation of to-day has sprung. 

 Variation in the flowers, the result of continuous cultivation undejr arti- 

 ficial and highly favorable circumstances, produced in the first place, 

 well marked varieties; these variations were perpetuated by cuttings, 

 and from them by means of cross-breeding and from sports distinct 

 races have been evolved, gradually showing a wider range of color aud 

 habit. In America the climatic conditions are peculiarly favorable for 

 the development of the flower under glass, and little by little a race has 

 been obtained perfectly adapted to Winter production of bloom. Not 

 many years have elapsed since the best cultivators of plants would have 

 predicted a short life for the Carnation raised under glass, and this 

 would probably be the case were its entire life, or rather the lives of 

 several generations, spent in this way. But the utmost vigor is imparted 

 to the plants shortly after the cutting stage is passed by their cultiva- 

 tion out-of-doors for the best part of the Summer. Another very favora- 

 ble means, which is without doubt highly instrumental in maintaining 

 and strengthening the vigor of the race, is the raising of new varieties 

 from seed. The development of the wonderful blooms of to-day, repre- 

 sented in such varieties as VViasor, Beacon, White Perfection, the forms 

 of Enchantress and others too numerous to mention, dates back only a 

 very few years when the blooms were of very ordinary dimensions, 

 stems weak and calyx often imperfect. Nearly every grower has been 

 more or lees engaged in raising new forms by crossing varieties. The 

 work along this line presents no serious difficulties and while hundreds 

 of thousands of seedlings have been rejected, numerous meritorious new 

 ones come into prominence. 



