OP ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 
99 
of the petals are also smooth. The picotees, on the contrary, have the margins of the petals generally finely 
serrated. The culture of the picotee is exactly the same as that of the carnation ; except that, as it is much 
hardier, it docs not require so much care during winter. 
16.— DIANTHUS PLUMARIUS, Lin. THE COMMON, OR FEATHERED PINK. 
SvNONYMEs. — D. dubiuB, Horn. ; D. moschatus, Hort. Par. 
Ehoiutings. — Figa. 1 to 4 in PUte 24^. 
SpEciric Cbajuctek. — GUucoua ; 2 — 3-flowercd ; teeth of calyx 
obtuse ; calycine acalei somewhat ovate, very short, mucronate, cloie- 
pressed. PetaU jagged, multifid, bearded, leaves linear, with scabrotu 
margins. {G. Don.) 
Descbiption, &c. — The pink differs from the carnation, in being a much smaller flower, and in having the 
margins of the petals deeply cut or fringed. It is also so much hardier as seldom to be grown in pots. Pinks 
are indeed generally planted in the open border, without any other care than what is usually bestowed upon 
perennial flowers ; but when it is wished to have the flowers fine, a bed is formed about two feet deep of fresh 
loamy soil, with a stratum of equal parts of two years' old cow-dung and earth, well mixed together, and abont 
six inches thick, placed five or six inches below the surface. Tlie pinks should be planted in this bed in August, 
or early in September ; and they should be placed about nine inches apart. The bed should be rounded on the 
surface to throw off heavy rains ; and it will require no other care, except an occasional watering in very dry 
•weather, or a slight covering in very severe frosts, except keeping it free from weeds, and occasionally stirring 
the surface with a fork if it appears becoming too hard. Strong plants will throw up a great number of flower- 
stems, but these should be thinned out, and only the strongest left, as no plant, however vigorous it may be, 
should be suffered to bear more than twelve blossoms, and weakly plants not more than four or five. All the 
small side-buds should always be rubbed off, as they never produce fine flowers. When the pods appear greatly 
swelled and in danger of bursting prematurely, they should be tied round with a piece of bast mat, as pinks are 
still more apt than carnations to be spoiled by bursting irregularly on one side, particularly those kinds which have 
the calyx short and round. When this is the case, many botanists divide the sepals with a penknife as low as 
they think it necessary to produce a good flower ; and this is called letting down the pod. Some persons cut 
small circular pieces of card which they put over the calyx so as to support the petals of the flowers ; but these 
card boards are not suitable for pinks grown in the open air, as they are destroyed by much rain. 
Pinks are propagated in the same manner as carnations ; that is, by layering, piping, and seeds. In the 
latter case, those plants which have blossoms with few petals, and long narrow pods, produce the greatest quantity 
of seed, though such seed " will not be likely to produce such large and double flowers as that which is sowed 
from plants possessing superior qualities." 
There are numerous kinds of pinks, the most beautiful of which are the varieties of laced pink, and Anna 
Boleyn. The laced pink (/^«. 1 and 2 in Plate 24) has the broad part of the petal, marked with a border or lacing of 
brownish red just within the fringe, then a clear space of white, and near the claw, a blotch of rich dark-purple, 
which should look like velvet, and be as nearly black as possible. The other pinks which are not laced should 
have a dark band (^. 4), on clear white. Some pinks are but little fringed, and it is considered a desirable 
object to get one rose-leaved, that is, with an entire margin. The handsomest pink grown in gardens is Anna 
Boleyn, Jiff. 3 in Plate 24 ; and it is one of the most abundant flowerers. In Mr. Ilopgood's nursery in the 
summer of 1842, this pink was most splendidly in flower for several weeks. 
o 2 
