Ten Years Growing Hardy Carnations— By Mrs. L. J. Bates «z 



YOU CAN RAISE THEM FROM SEED WITHOUT GREENHOUSE OR COLDFRAMES- MARGUERITES BLOOM THE FIRST YEAR, 

 BORDER CARNATIONS THE SECOND -FINE COLORS AND DELIGHTFUL FRAGRANCE -PLANTS MAY LAST SIX YEARS 



T^7E Americans have a singularly dis- 

 » » torted idea about carnations. To 

 us the name suggests only the varieties that 

 florists force in winter for cut flowers. In 

 Europe the word "carnation" refers to a 

 summer-blooming race of flowers which are 

 charming for garden effect, as well as for 

 cutting. 



These hardy border carnations are shame- 

 fully neglected. True, their flowers may not 

 be quite as large or their stems as long as 



Among the improved annuals are doubles like this 



the winter-blooming varieties, but then, 

 not every one can afford a greenhouse! 

 And besides, greenhouse carnations are dis- 

 carded after a single season, whereas these 

 may give good results for five or six years. 

 People sometimes say: "How fine it 

 would be if the greenhouse carnations were 

 hardy!" Hardiness is not the point at all. 

 As a matter of fact, greenhouse carnations 

 will often survive the winter outdoors. But 

 people forget what a weary round of staking, 

 disbudding, feeding and spraying would be 

 required to bring outdoor blooms up to the 

 indoor standard. And the chief reason why 



greenhouse carnations are such sad misfits 

 in the garden is their ungainly habit. Their 

 flowers may be large, but they are too few, 

 and the stems are uncomfortably long. 

 On the other hand, border carnations have 

 a charming habit, and fit to perfection. 

 They make bushy plants covered with flowers, 

 bear more flowers on a stem, and the stems 

 are just right in every way. 



The evolution of these garden carnations 

 is highly interesting. There have been 

 two main lines of effort on the part of hybrid- 

 izers. One is to make the plants bloom 

 earlier, for the border carnations as a class 

 do not bloom until the second year from 

 seed. This line of work has culminated 

 in the Marguerite class which blooms the 

 first year. Marguerites can be coaxed into 

 flower in three to five months from seed, 

 depending somewhat upon the variety, 

 but more upon cultural conditions. 



The other great line of evolution has 

 been toward the everblooming character. 

 Normally, the garden carnations bloom 

 for a fortnight in June or July, and 

 are then gone until next year. 

 There are a great many strains ,-*■ 

 and varieties that pretend to be 

 perpetual, and in Europe they may 

 be, just as the roses are; but in 

 our hot, dry climate we can only 

 expect scattering flowers 

 after the main rush of 

 bloom. How many flowers 

 we get in August and Septem 

 ber depends partly on the vari- 

 ety, but chiefly upon cultura 

 conditions. 



Therefore, we believe, our 

 readers will welcome this 

 full and careful account 

 of cultural methods by an 

 amateur who has grown 

 hardy carnations success- 

 fully for ten years. — The 

 Editor.1 



There is no use in denying that it takes 

 patience and a good deal of love to raise 

 hardy carnations, but think of the glorious 

 harvest. Think of the enormous number 

 of flowers you get, their fair size, good 

 colors, strong stems, attractive habit, 

 refreshing odor, and their ability to live 

 five or six years with little or no covering! 

 In my opinion hardy carnations are the 

 most satisfactory flowers that grow. Only 

 the rose may vie with them in fragrance and 

 excel in sentiment, but roses require a good 

 deal of care. Surely hardy carnations are 



easier to grow than 

 nations. Indeed, 

 little harder to grow 

 common annual 



greenhouse car- 

 they are only a 

 than the 

 flowers. 

 The im- 

 mense number 

 of carnations of- 

 fered in Euro- 

 pean cata- 

 logues is 

 bewilder- 

 ing to an 

 American 

 amateur, 

 but the simple classi- 

 fication given by Pro- 

 fessor Bailey in his 

 "Survival of the Un- 



. ,i ' like" quickly brings 



order out of chaos, 

 i. Most important to the florist 

 are the forcing carnations, which 

 are designed for winter bloom. 

 Unlike the following, these are suit- 

 able for summer bloom in a garden. 

 2. Most important to the gardener are 

 the border carnations. These bloom the 

 second year from seed. 



The Marguerites may not be equal 



the finest border carnations in all re- 



pects but they will bloom the first 



year from seed. 



Giant Marguerite carnations 4- The Grenadines are a race 



171 



