4J2 
JO URN XL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 4. 1891. 
yellow fruited varieties, the last-named being the best of the four 
in point of flavour.—W. iGGunnEN, 
[We have no recollection of receiving the photograph referred 
to. No doubt it was good, as our correspondent is not the man 
to photograph a failure.] 
THE CARNATION. 
[.A. rarer by Mr. J.\i[ES Dougl.vs, read at the meeting: of the Hawick Horticultural 
Mutual Improvement Association, May 29th.] 
The History. 
It has now been determined, as nearly as anything can be, 
that the original wild plant from avhich our beautiful garden 
Carnations have been derived is the Dianthus c.aryophyllus, or 
Clove Pink, of Linnieus. It produces pale flesh-coloured flowers, 
and has been naturalised on old walls in various parts of England. 
As a garden flower it is supposed to have been cultivated as early as 
the time of Edward III. It is mentioned by Chaucer because the 
flowers were useful to flavour ale. It is alluded to by Spenser in 
the “Sheoheard’s Calender” amongst other garden flowers in 
these words ;— 
“ Bring hither the Pincke and purple Cullambine, 
With Gilliflowres ; 
Bring Coronations, and Sops-in-winc, 
Worn of paramours.” 
Shakespeare, of course, alludes to the Carnation. In the 
“Winter’s Tale” Perdita is made to say—“The fairest flowers 
o’ the season Are our Carnations, and streaked Gillyflowers, 
Which some call nature’s bastards ; of that kind Our rustic 
garden’s barren ; and I care not To get slips of them.” The 
work of Eembrandt Dodoens was translated by Lyte and 
published in 1578, and there we come upon the word Carnation 
for the first time. 
In 1597 the “ Historie of Plants” was published by John 
Gerarde, and at page 472 he tells us all that he knew of the 
garden varieties, “ and how euery yeere euery climate and 
countrie bringeth foorth new sortes, such as haue not beene 
heretofore written of ; some whereof are called Carnations, others 
Clone Gilloflowers, some Sops-in-Wine, some Pagiants or Pagion 
colour, Horseflesh, blunket, purple, white, double and single Gillo¬ 
flowers, as also a Gilloflower with yellow flowers. The which a 
worshipfull marchant of London, Master Nicholas Lete, procured 
from Poland, and gaue me thereof for my garden, which before 
that time was neuer seen nor heard of in these countries.” He 
alludes to a few garden varieties and figures “ the great double 
Carnation” with only a few extra petals, and also a variety with 
more double but much smaUer flowers, “ the double Clone 
Gilloflower.” 
Gerarde was therefore the first to grow and write about the 
yellow Carnation. The “Paradisus” of Parkinson was published in 
1629, and contains a list of nineteen varieties of Carnations and 
twenty-nine varieties of Gilloflowers. There were many colours— 
white, crimson, blush, flakes and stripes, the yellow or orange tawney. 
A number of the best varieties are figured, but the figures do 
not give onej any idea of ai really double flower. The Carnation 
had much the largest flowers, the Gilloflowers were smaller. The 
type of the Carnation was “ The Great Harwich or Old English 
Carnation,” which Parkinson calls a goodly great flower worthy of 
a prime place. The Gilloflowers seem to be of the type of our 
Pinks. Rea’s “ Flora,” published in 1665, gives us more informa¬ 
tion, and hints that some of the varieties formerly grown in our 
gardens had passed out of cultivation ; and as far as we can learn 
from later authors the Carnation in its various form of seifs, flakes, 
and stripes was successfully cultivated during the later years of the 
seventeenth and the early part of the eighteenth century. The 
second edition of the “ Gardeners’ Dictionary ” was published by 
Miller in 1733. Philip Miller was gardener to the Worshipful 
Company of Apothecaries at their botanic garden, Chelsea, and he 
writes a long and elaborate article on the Carnation, which con¬ 
tains all that was likely to be known of it up to that date. He 
says the “ florists ” divide the Carnation, or Clove-gilliflower, into 
four classes. The first they call flakes, these are of two colours 
only, and their stripes are large, going quite through the “ leaves ” 
(petals?). The second are called “ bizarrs,’’ these have flowers 
striped or variegated with three or four different colours. The 
third are called “ Piquettes,” these flowers have always a white 
ground, and are spotted (or pounced as they call it) with 
scarlet, red, purple or other colours. The fourth are called 
“ Painted Ladies,” these have their petals of a red or purple colour 
on the upper side and are white underneath. 
Here we have a correct definition of the Carnation as it was 
cultivated in England more than 150 years ago. Miller informs' 
us that then, as now, the list of names of cultivated varieties was 
a long one, the names bsing borrowed from “ the titles of noble¬ 
men or from the person’s name or place of abode who raised it.’' 
The “ florists’ ” properties of a flower as defined by Miller were as 
follows :— 
“ 1, The stem of the flower should be strong, and able to support 
the weight of the flower without hanging down. 2, The petals 
of the flower should be long, broad, and stiff, and pretty easy tO' 
expand, or, as the florists’ term them, should be free flowers. 
3, The middle pod of the flower should not advance too high above- 
the other part of the ‘blowers’ (? flower). 4, The colours should 
be bright, and equally marked all over the flower. 5, The flower 
should be very full of petals, so as to render it when blown Very 
thick and high in the middle, and the outside perfectly round.” 
The above flower properties are given exactly in Miller’s owm 
words, and as a matter of cultural and historical interest his direc¬ 
tions for culture are much the same as we now practise in our own 
gardens, even to the'system of planting one or a pair of plants in 
small pots and sheltering them in cold frames. Miller says ho¬ 
used pols that cost a halfpenny each. The plants were put to- 
bloom in pots measuring 9 inches across in the clear. From the 
time of Miller until the end of the eighteenth century we have 
evidence that the Carnation had been brought by the art of the 
florists to as high a state of floral excellence as we now see it in 
our gardens. In the year 1788 there was figured in Curtis’s 
Botanical Magazine a scarlet bizarre Carnation named “ Tartar,”" 
which had been produced from seeds by an ingenious cultivator of 
these flowers named Franklin, who had his garden in Lambeth 
Marsh. The coloured plate of this Carnation is No. 39, Bot. 
and when placed in juxtaposition wich the finest scarlet bizarres 
of the present day Mr. Franklin’s flower can hold its own with 
the best of them. Mr. Curtis here states that the Dianthus Caryo- 
phyllus or wild Clove “ may be found, if not in its wild state, at 
least single, on the walls of Rochester Castle, where it has been 
long known to flourish, and where it produces two varieties in point 
of colour, the pale and deep red.” 
In 1824 the third edition of Hogg’s “ Treatise on the Carna¬ 
tion’' was published, and therewith we have coloured plates of the- 
bizarre Carnation and also the yellow Carnation or Picotee. Ins 
respect to the quality of the flowers of the bizarre Carnation there 
is no advance upon that figured by Curtis, but yellow Carnations- 
and Picotees had attained to a high state of perfection. Hogg 
says his coloured plate represents a yellow Picotee, but as the 
petals are marked with flakes or stripes, and the margin is also 
marked with short lines instead of a continuous margin as we have 
now upon the best yellow varieties, it could not be admitted with 
the modern Picotees. Thomas Hogg was a good Carnation grower,, 
and gave most minute cultural instructions ; but we have learned 
to grow our plants well without the endless trouble entailed in 
mixing up, turning over and over again the elaborate composts 
recommended by him. 
In the “ Horticultural Register ” of 1836 there is a coloured 
plate of a true yellow Carnation, under the name of Rodger’s 
Unique Golden Crimson Bizarre ; it is beautifully marked in two 
colours on a rich yellow ground. It is stated that the nearest 
approach to it is one of the lately introduced yellow Picotees. We 
are further informed that the seeds from which the plant was raised 
had been obtained from Brussels ; moreover, a small stock of 
plants only could be obtained, and as the constitution of it was- 
not very vigorous it would soon pass out of existence, and unless 
seedlings were raised from it the stock itself would be lost to the- 
floral community. 
Descriptive Remarks. 
For garden purposes the Carnation is divided into numerous 
sections, in which must be included the Picotee, and these are 
arranged as under in the schedules of the National Carnation and 
Picotee Society. 
I. Scarlet Bizarres. —This type of Carnation has for many years- 
been at the head of the list in exhibition schedules and the 
catalogues of the leading florists. The flowei’S have flakes or stripes 
in maroon and scarlet on a white ground. 
II. Crimson Bizarres. —The flowers of this section are striped 
and flaked with a colour approaching crimson, and also purple on 
a white ground. 
III. Pinh and Purple Bizarres. —These have a pale pink colour 
in place of the crimson or deeper pink with the purple flakes ; the 
ground being white. 
IV. Purple Plaices. —In this the flowers are merely flaked or 
striped with purple of various shades, and in some cases the colour 
is broken up into spots or small blotches, which is a serious fault.: 
The purer the white the more is the flower esteemed ; the flakes 
and stripes should be distinctly marked, and their beauty lies in 
their irregularity. 
