CHAPTER VIII 



The American Carnation as an Outdoor Bedding 

 Plant 



Although not very widely used as a plant for Summer 

 bedding, the American Carnation is still a useful subject, 

 particularly in the cooler sections of the East and North- 

 west. To get plants for this purpose some growers advise 

 striking the cuttings early in January in order to get nice 

 plants by the month of April. These are pinched once and 

 let come right into flower. The blooms may be small, 

 but they are very useful for decorative purposes. Whether 

 old plants from the benches could be successfully trans- 

 ferred out of doors is problematical; possibly this could be 

 done if extreme care were taken. Another method that 

 has been employed with success is to strike the cuttings in 

 July or August, plant them in a frame, and carry them over 

 the Winter; remove the frame and let them bloom there the 

 following Summer. Of course, sufficient space has to be 

 given to the young plants to allow them full development, 

 and feeding, mulching and watering would have to be 

 attended to regularly. 



In recent years in England the American Carnation 

 has become a great favorite for bedding out of doors for 

 Summer flowering. A Carnation grower in England natur- 

 ally associates his plants with the land of their origin, and 

 in Midwinter, when he scarcely catches sight of the sun for 

 weeks together, he sighs and wishes he could turn on a few 

 hours of that indispensable sunlight which is more abundant 



