Carnations to Follow the Tulips — By Joseph H. Perry, sss. 



FRAGRANT FLOWERS, FROM JUNE TO NOVEMBER IN THE BEDS WHERE THE TULIPS HAVE 

 BLOOMED, CAN BE HAD FROM SEEDS SOWN NOW — A PRACTICAL SOLUTION TO AN OLD PROBLEM 



IT is possible to have Marguerite car- 

 nations in bloom from June to Novem- 

 ber, and that, too, in beds where 

 tulips have blossomed in the early 

 spring. 



Marguerite carnations are raised easily 

 from seed, and, once started and placed in 

 a bed reasonably fertilized, will grow and 

 blossom, affording large bunches of rose 

 crimson, yellow, scarlet, white, and striped 

 flowers. In addition to the beautiful 

 colors and graceful form which delight the 

 eye, these flowers exhale a delicious, spicy 

 fragrance which fills a whole room. More- 

 over, the whole season is none too long for 

 them to bloom; they delight in the cool 

 days and frosty nights of October when 

 most of the outdoor flowers are gone. 

 They commence to bloom in May and June, 

 and the burning heat and drought of July 

 and August do not interfere at all with 

 their floral display. 



The plants for the first bed of Mar- 

 guerite carnations which I grew were 

 from seeds planted in a box early in April. 

 These plants, transplanted into the bed 

 when the weather permitted, began 

 blossoming the latter part of August or 

 early in September. When the severe 

 cold of the late fall would let them blossom 

 no longer, they were covered with hundreds 

 of buds. The logic of this was that the 

 plants should have been started earlier so as 

 to give them a longer season for blooming. 



I then began planting the seeds on the 

 twenty-second of February, and for years 

 I celebrated the birthday of the "Father 

 of His Country" by planting Marguerite 

 carnation seeds. The boxes in which 

 these were planted were placed in a sunny 

 window of the dining room. It was a 

 constant source of pleasure and inspiration 

 during the latter part of winter to watch 

 for the first tiny, white bow bending up 

 through the earth, and then for the second 

 leaves, until the seedlings were ready for 

 transplanting. During this period of 

 watching, delight and inspiration too fre- 

 quently gave place to disappointment and 

 discouragement as one after another of the 

 little plants drooped and shriveled to 

 nothing. It is a very critical stage for all 

 things living when they pass from depend- 

 ence to independence. The little seedlings 

 start depending on and using food and 

 energy stored with them in the seed; but 

 these supplies are soon exhausted and then, 

 if they are not able to derive nourishment 

 from the surrounding soil and air and shift 

 for themselves, they must succumb. Then, 

 too, sometimes with kindest intentions 

 toward the little plants, I gave them too 

 much water; at other times I forgot them 

 and the earth became dry as a bone; first 

 I placed the boxes where it was too warm, 

 and then where it was too cool. It seemed, 



at times, as if I were fated to do the wrong 

 thing at just the right time in dealing with 

 these little seedlings. It has been with a 

 sigh of relief that, year after year, I have 

 seen the second leaves appearing on my 

 Marguerite carnation seedlings, for then 

 I knew that, barring accidents, the little 

 plants had passed the most critical stage 

 in their development. 



When the second leaves were fully grown, 

 the plants were ready for transplanting, 

 which was done by placing the seedlings 

 two inches apart in boxes filled with earth; 

 and, soon after, when the plants had be- 

 come accustomed to their new position, 

 the boxes were placed in a sunny south 

 window of a room having no artificial 

 heat. By that time the spring had ad- 

 vanced enough so that such a room was 

 warm enough for sturdy, healthy growth. 

 Then when the outdoor weather permitted, 

 about May first, I have been accustomed 

 to transfer the seedlings from the boxes 

 to some place in the garden where they 

 might grow, while the tulips were blossom- 

 ing and ripening in the flower beds. It has 

 been a principle with me that each flower 

 bed must furnish me with two crops; and 

 so, when the tulips have passed, there 

 might grow ready to take their places for 

 summer or fall blooming. Between the 

 ist and the 15th of June the tulips have 

 been taken up, the bed fertilized, and the 

 Marguerite seedlings, then good sized 



plants, have been put in their permanent 

 places to produce the second crop of flowers 

 in that bed. 



Early in July such plants have been 

 accustomed to show buds; by August 

 ist to furnish a few flowers, and by Septem- 

 ber ist great bunches of spicy flowers of 

 various colors; and from that time until 

 they have been pulled up, about November 

 first, to make place for the tulips, they 

 have supplied us with a bouquet every 

 two or three days. The frosty nights of 

 October have never injured these Mar- 

 guerite carnations, and frequently during 

 that month they have produced the 

 largest, sweetest, and most brilliant flowers 

 when other beds were bare. 



The problem of giving them a longer 

 season was not easily solved. I tried to 

 keep them out in the bed through the 

 winter by covering them with a thick layer 

 of leaves. This necessitated the giving 

 up of tulips in that bed in the spring, and 

 only a few of the plants survived, and these 

 made but a poor growth the second year. 



At the suggestion of a friend, two years 

 ago, in the early fall I took slips and rooted 

 them in sand, then put them in the cold- 

 frame. To my delight they passed the 

 winter nicely and were ready to commence 

 blooming early in the season. I felt that 

 I had solved the problem of lengthening 

 the season for my Marguerite carnations. 

 The following is my method of procedure: 



Seeds are sown indoors in February and cuttings of the plants are put into frames in September 

 1.5 



