THE GARDENERS* MAGAZINE. 



September 14, j:912. 



BORDER CARNATIONS* 



Having been asked to state how I grow 

 and show border carnations^ I can only 

 say that I have little to add to the in- 

 formation wliich has been printed on the 

 subject. There arc some points, how- 

 ever, in the culture of the border carnation 

 on which 1 hardly agree with the older 

 writers, and, perhaps, 1 ought to say that 

 those who wrote about carnations forty or 

 fifty years ago were advising for those 

 who grew only the white-grovmd b.zaries, 

 flakes, and picotees. During the last 

 twenty or twenty-five years, however, the 

 principal border carnations have been the 

 selfs, fancies, and yellow-ground picotees, 

 and we have to thank that great raiser of 

 new varieties, the late Mr. Martin U. 

 Smith, for the giand flowers which now 

 adorn our gardens and our tables. 



I grew carnations as a mere boy in my 

 native county, Ayrshire, when only bizarres, 

 flakes, and white-ground ])icotees were to 

 any extent known. True, there were 

 selfs also in those early days, but such 

 were only the sports of red, crimson, or 

 purple, which liad arisen from the said 



bizarres, flakes, etc., and in nearly every 

 case such selfs were very different to those 

 now in existence, being much more delicate 

 in constitution than those of the present 

 day. 



Since the days of Mr. Martin R. Smith, 

 however, we have not only had a new race 

 of selfs, but also of fancies and yellow- 

 ground picotees, and the grand colouring 

 of these has as yet not even l>een ap- 

 proached by the many raisers of the newer 

 kinds of perpetual-flowering carnations. 



Although I admit that the perpetual- 

 flowering carnation possesses many points 

 in advance of the border race, notably in 

 the fact that it may be had in flower at 

 any time of the year, and that its stem 

 is much stronger, and therefore more use- 

 ful for indoor decoration, I must say that 

 the border varieties far outstrip the per- 

 petuals in varieil colouring, as well as in 

 hardiness durinrr onr trying winters. 



Layering:. 



The culture of the border carnation may 

 be said to commence at the layering time, 

 which is usually towards the end of .July, 

 but, owing to the early season through 

 which we are passing, we cuminence<l this 

 year rather before the middle of the month, 

 in the South of England at any rate. 



Layering is one of the important opera- 

 tions in carnation culture, and such should 

 not be put off luitil the grass has become 

 hard and brittle, and it should generally 

 be practised when the plants are in flower 

 or immediately after. The best layers only 

 should be selected, and all small and poor 

 ''grass" be cut away. It stands to rea- 

 son that, unless the stronger layers are se- 

 lect e<l, the stock must gradually lose 

 vigour, and in time become valueless. I 

 never layer from a weak-growing plant, 

 and if I have not good stock of any 

 variety, I send to a specialist for it. The 

 advice is frequently giA^en to cut up 

 through a joint, and bring the knife out 

 accordingly, but for those who practice 

 this I say emphatically insert the knife 

 above the joint, and cut down through it, 

 and the saving in time, as well as plants, 

 will soon be apparent. 



Planting: and Potting. 



digging it deeply and enriching it about 

 twelve inches under the surface with some 

 good fresh stable or farmyard manure, ac- 

 cording to the character of the soil. If 

 heavy, use stable manure, but if light use 

 cow manure. 



I do not believe in well-rotted manure, 

 either for border planting or pots, and this 

 is where I differ from most of the older 

 authorities on the subject. My experience 

 of growing carnations in pots with fairly 

 fresh manure is that you may kill one in 

 twenty-five or thirty by doing so, but, those 

 which stand siich treatment are far 

 stronger and better plants than those which 

 are grown in a mixture of loam and well- 

 rotted manure. I, therefore, plump for 

 fairly fresh loam as well as fa'rly fresh 

 stable manure for pot plants. 



For exhibition culture in pots I advise 

 taking up the layers two months after 

 layering, and putting them into medium or 



60-sized oots, according to the 



according 

 But those who wish 



large 60-sized pots, 

 strength of the layer, 

 to minimise space in the winter should put 

 two plants well apart in either a small or 

 large 54-sized pot. I generally find that 

 two plants in a 54-sized pot surpass those 

 in 60's by the time of the final potting in 

 spring. The reason for this, I believe, is 

 that the newly-rooted layer likes its roots 

 against the side of the pot, and there is no 

 doubt that layers piit against the side of 

 the pot root more surely, and are usually 

 l>etter than those put in the middle of the 

 pot. 



Another important point is to see that 

 the yoimg plants are not over-watered dur- 

 ing the winter months. It is very seldom 

 that I give water between the middle of 

 November and the middle of January, and 

 if the pots are stoo<l on ashes, either in 

 cold frames or the greenhouse bench, the 

 young plants Avill obtain plenty of moisture 

 from the aslies underneath. Any leaves 

 near tlie base of the plants which turn 

 sickly and yellow should be immediately 

 removed, and every attention be given to 

 cleanliness in all stages of the plant's 

 growth. 



Spring: Potting;. 



I usually commence potting about Feb- 

 ruary 1, and like to have all my stock put 

 into their final pots by the end of that 

 month, as growth becomes active by that 

 time. The compost I use is as follows : 

 IVve parts loam, one part each of leaf- 

 mould and manure, and to this mixture I 



7 ^^^^ Lil O X 



add a quarter-part each of coarse silver 

 sand and medium-sized crushed oyster 

 shell, as well as a similar quantity of good 

 mortar rubble from between the bricks of 

 an old building, preferably a chimney. A 

 little soot IS also a safe and useful ingre- 

 dient, but it js not necessary. The two 

 main ingredients are the loam and manure, 

 both fairly fresh. 



After the final potting give a good 

 watering, and see that all the plants grow- 

 Hig in the small pots are fairly damp &fore 



t ghtly in the fina pots, but take care that 

 the compost used is a trifle dry, rather than 

 T h .1*^^ ^^nimmg will be injurious. 



a 24-size I do not advise using smaller 

 a' tW d^ - -ngVplant 



SI mm; 7 "^""f q^^^^^^y the hot 

 summer days, and require a great deal 



Aftor layprinp, six weoks to oUM wooks '""''^ 'i^ention as regards watering. 



ousht to Hnpse hofore tl,e layers „v <hi Summer Quarters 



taclKxl from the parent j)lant.s. and those P»++- . ^^uarters. 

 hfiouKi nrepare the ground beforehand l)v 



ought to be admitted, both at the top and 

 sides of the frames. The frames I use are 

 constructed with ventilators, both at the 

 sides and ends, and this is very necessary 

 for wintering, as well as for spring culti- 

 vation. 



As soon as the plants are fairly estab- 

 lished in their big pots, remove the 'top 

 sashes of the frames during dry weather, 

 and let the plants have all the air and light 

 possible, but in w^et weather keep the top 

 lights on^ admitting plenty of air by rais- 

 ing them with wooden blocks. In these 

 frames I keep most of my selfs and fancies, 

 as they will stand any amount of exposure 

 until they spindle for bloom, which is gene- 

 rally in May, but the yellow-ground pico- 

 tees are put into the cold greenhouse 

 somewhat earlier, as I consider them less 

 hardy, and the rains which fall in April 

 and May would tend to make the foliage 

 turn yellow and sickly, while the plants 

 would suffer in consequence. 



Disbudding: and Staking:. 



As the plants spindle for bloom^ see that 

 they are neatly staked and tied up loosely 

 to keep the bloom stems straight and regu- 

 lar. 1 like the green-painted stakes, 3^ft. 

 in lengthy as many varieties require more 

 than a 3ft. stake. Many growers use thin 

 bamboo cane points, but for neatness they 

 do not compare with the round, green- 

 painted wooden stakes. 



Disbudding should be commenced by ex- 

 hibitors as soon as the buds can be easily 

 removed, but this is a matter which re- 

 quires knowledge of the variety to be 

 oj)erated upon. The yellow-ground pico- 

 tees give the best results disbudded to the 

 top or crown bud, and so do many of the 

 selfs and fancies, but in order to prevent 

 a few of the selfs, and rather more of the 

 fancies bursting their calyces^ I always 

 leave several side buds to develop, as well 

 as the crown bud. With such disbudding 

 the crown bud is left so as to have at least 

 one foot of stem to it, leaving three or four 

 of the lower buds on in order to keep the 

 top bud safe from splitting. This means 

 that the second, third, and fourth buds 

 need to be taken away, leaving, say, the 

 fifth, sixth, and seventh buds to develop. 



I do not believe in feeding with artificial 

 manures in any form, as these tend to 

 produce rank growth, and the flowers from 

 artificially-fed plants do not last on the 

 plants, or when cut, more than a third of 

 the time that naturally-grown flowers do. 

 Although I do not practise natural liquid 

 manure feeding myself, relying entirely on 

 the rather strong stuff I use for my coni- 



I see no objection to such being 

 used in a moderate way. The safest and 

 best liquid manure is a mixtiire of fresh 

 cow and sheep droppings pvit into a small 

 sa/C'k, and left to soak in at least fifty gal- 

 lons of rain water. Of course, soot water 



is also highly beneficial, as well as safe. 



are three-parts 



post, 



When the crown buds . — ^ 

 grown it is advisable to put elastic bands 

 round them to prevent bursting. Most ot 

 the filbert-shaped buds, however, such as 

 the yellow-ground picotees develop, are 

 quite safe without bands, but, as a pr^ 

 caution, it is best to use a band, even wntli 

 them. A good few of the selfs and fancies 

 have round and fat buds, and some of them 

 must be tied with raffia to prevent them 

 bursting; I use green raffia-tape, as it is 

 much more easily split and worked than the 

 ordinary raffia. 



A greenhouse for carnation growmc: 



too 



ridge. 



and 



a week or two at the most plenty of air 



every sash on both si<los ought to be ma^lf 

 to opon, as well as botli sides of the root- 

 Th(v doors also shonkl l ai-oly bo closed, as 

 all the air possible ought to circulate 



