COmiON GAKDEN FLOWERS. 



293 



can be multiplied by division of the roots. A strong 

 plant, say one two years old, can be divided, if care- 

 fully done, into two or three, and in this way a 

 ntunber of plants can soon be had. Seed cannot be 

 depended upon to produce exactly the form it is 

 desired to preserve. Some wiU be true to character, 

 but a great many will sport into other colours, as 

 is common with 



many 

 flowers. 



other 



The Dian- 

 thus. (We get 

 this name from 

 4ios, divine, and 

 anthos, a flower). — 

 Under this head- 

 ing there is in- 

 cluded a large tribe 

 of hardy, and we 

 might say charm- 

 ing flowers. The 

 Carnation, Picotee,. 

 and Pink are dealt 

 with elsewhere, and 

 • they are all Dian- 

 thuses. There is 

 the Alpine Pink 

 (I), alpinus), the 

 beautiful mountain 

 Pink from the Alps 

 of Austria, that 

 does well on ex- 

 posed spots, 

 planted in a light, 

 gritty loam, where 

 it can remain un- 

 disturbed. There 

 is the Cheddar 

 Pink (JD. casim), 

 -which can be found 

 on the limestone 

 rocks at Cheddar, 



in Somersetshire : a dwarf-growing kind, producing 

 dense tufts, and flourishing in dry sandy borders, 

 and on rock-work. There is the Maiden Pink 

 {D. deltoides), which is found in Europe, Asia, and 

 Britain, but not in Ireland; forming grassy tufts, 

 and making a pretty rock plant. There is the 

 Glacier Pink {D. glmialis), a charming but very 

 dwarf plant, only two or three inches in height, and 

 which is found on the granitic Alps of the Tyrol. 

 These, together with a few others not so well known, 

 make up a group of rock plants of a very pleasing 

 character, that are wonderfully pretty when tho- 

 roughly established in suitable spots. Some persons 



Brilliant, 



DlAHIHUS CHINENSIS HeDDEWIGII, 



grow them in pots in gritty soil, and verj' pretty 

 indeed they are when well managed. 



There is also the Fringed Pink {D. superbus), a tall- 

 growing handsome form, fragrant, height twelve 

 to eighteen inches, the petals of the flowers having 

 the appearance of being cut into strips for more 

 than half their length. With the exception of 



the last-named the 

 foregoing are all 

 hardy perennials, 

 and in Kght soils 

 D. superbus, though 

 really a biennial, 

 win become quite 

 perennial in char- 

 acter. 



Sweet William. 

 • — The dear old 

 Sweet William of 

 our gardens is 

 BiantJms barbatus, 

 which means 

 bearded. It is as 

 common in gardens 

 as some weeds. If 

 it is not in a gar- 

 den, there is some- 

 thing wanting. 

 This is not an 

 English flower, 

 though found in 

 almost every Eng- 

 lish garden, but it 

 originally came to 

 us from various 

 parts of Central 

 and Southern Eu- 

 rope. Though re- 

 garded as a bien- 

 nial, it is in some 

 soils a perennial ; 

 but those desiring 

 to have fine flowers 

 will do well to sow some seed every year. This is 

 best done in May and June, because the plants have 

 time to grow strongly, and they can then be depended 

 upon to flower the next year. The Sweet William 

 has been greatly improved dui-iug the last twenty- 

 five years. A Mr. Joseph Hunt, of High Wycombe, 

 was fortunate in raising a strain, fine and varied, in 

 colour, with large bold pips with smooth edges, borne 

 on fine trusses of flower. Then lilr. W. Dean, Ship- 

 ley, Yorkshire, raised what he called an Auricula- eyed 

 strain, having fine pips also, some with smooth and 

 some with fringed edges, but aU having striking 

 white centres. The seed can be sown in shallow 



