FASHIONABLE FLOWERS 



experience with Carnations, which have an irresistible 

 way of claiming friendship, especially if one endeavours 

 to have them in bloom all the year round, which is not 

 so difficult as it sounds. In fact, with the help of a little 

 greenhouse, it is fairly easy. I advise all my garden- 

 ing friends, even at the risk of making myself a bore, 

 to grow their Carnations from seed. It is infinitely more 

 fascinating than growing them in the orthodox way, 

 and if there are few prizes well, usually there are few 

 blanks. By prizes I mean new varieties that will take 

 the Carnation world by storm, gain certificates and awards 

 of merit from the flower societies, and put at least a ten- 

 pound note in the grower's pocket. By blanks I mean 

 those with single flowers, and even they are only dis- 

 appointing by comparison with the double ones. 



I have not yet made the ten-pound note with a new 

 Carnation, but who knows what yet may happen ? I am 

 emulating the delightful characteristic of Mr. Micawber, 

 and meanwhile am getting untold pleasure from an 

 eighteenpenny packet of seed. I am keenly interested 

 in one plant : the flowers are not very much to look at, 

 perhaps ; they are marked with red on a yellow ground. 

 But and surely this was worth the eighteenpence alone 

 there are flowers of two distinct colours on the same 

 plant, and, not content with giving a harvest of blossom 

 in summer, in December my plant is still in bloom. I 

 may have discovered what so many have for long been 

 seeking a perpetual blooming Border Carnation ! 



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