388 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 16, 1S89. 
FRO^ lgl/bT lfl^. 
Carnations and Picotees. 
Now that work in the garden is to some extent at a 
standstill, and lovers of that queen of the floral world — 
the Carnation—have little to do in connection with 
their plants, I think the present is an opportune 
moment for discussing the qualities and properties 
of this flower, and the classes into which the English 
florists have thought proper to divide it. I am induced 
to take the subject in hand in consequence of the 
numerous inquiries which I receive from both amateurs 
and gardeners and others interested in the matter, as 
to the special peculiarities of the Carnation and Picotee. 
It may be a matter of surprise to those who are learned in 
these things to know that gardeners need enlightenment, 
but as there are fashions in flowers as in other things, 
so it has come to pass that notwithstanding the great 
beauty, the delightful perfume, and the general use¬ 
fulness of this glorious flower, it has been so long kept 
in the background to make room for other subjects of 
far inferior merit that but few, comparatively speaking, 
have any conception of its value, its properties, or its 
culture, hence the necessity for some discussion at the 
present time. 
As to the history of the Carnation, it would be a 
waste of time and space to enter into the subject ; but 
to those who would really study the matter, I commend 
the most recent work on the Carnation, by the father 
of the Oxford Carnation Union, and the most successful 
raiser of Carnations and Picotees of the present day— 
our old friend, Mr. E. S. Dodwell. Of the older 
writers—and these have been many—none have dealt 
with the subject in a more practical or useful way than 
the late George Glenny, who, in his Properties of 
Flowers and Plants, thus describes 
The Properties of the Carnation. 
First, the flower should be not less than 2£ ins. across. 
Second, the guard or lower petals, not less than six in 
number, must be broad, thick, and smooth—the more 
round the outline the better—free from notch or 
cerulation, and wrap over each other sufficiently to form 
a circular roseate flower or crown. Third, each row of 
petals should be smaller than the row immediately 
under it ; there should be not less than five rows of 
petals, laid regularly, and the flowers should rise and 
form a good bold centre or crown, and in quantity 
should form half a ball. Fourth, the petals should 
be stiff and slightly cupped. Fifth, the stripes of 
colour should be clear and distinct—not running into 
each other, nor confused, speckled or broken, but dense, 
smooth at the edges of the stripes, and well defined. 
Seventh, the colours must be bright and dear, whatever 
they may be ; if there be two colours (as in the bizarre), 
the darker one cannot be too dark, or form too great a 
contrast with the lighter. With the scarlet, the per¬ 
fection would be black; with the pink, there cannot 
be too deep a crimson ; with the lilac or light purple, 
the second cannot be too deep a purple. Eighth, if the 
colours run into the white ground and tinge it, or the 
white is not pure, the fault is great, and pouncy spots 
are highly objectionable. Ninth, the pod of the bloom 
should be long and large, to enable the flower to bloom 
without bursting it. So far so good for the properties 
of the Carnation proper. 
The Properties of the Picotee. 
The properties of form are similar to those of the Car¬ 
nation ; but the distinction between the Carnation and 
Picotee is that the former is disposed in unequal stripes, 
going from the centre to the outer edges, and that of 
the Picotee is disposed on the outer edges of the petals, 
and radiates inwards, and the more uniformly this is 
disposed the better. Whether it be very deeply 
feathered at the edge, like the pattern on the edge of a 
heavily-feathered Tulip, or an even stripe not thicker 
than the thickness of the petal, all round the edge, or 
something between, it is only necessary that it be 
uniform, that none of the feathery marks have a break, 
and that there shall be as much width of white as 
colour seen on the petal at the deepest part of the 
feather. It is not necessary that the feather be the 
same width all the way round, but every stripe which 
does not reach the edge of the petal is a blemish. 
Disqualifications of the Flower. 
First, if there be any petal dead or mutilated. Second, 
if there be any one petal in which there is no colour. 
Third, if there be any petal in which there is no white. 
Four, if a pod be split down to the sub-calyx ; if a 
guard petal be badly split. Five, notched edges are 
glaring faults, for which no excellence in other respects 
can compensate. 
Now this was the florists’ perfect flower, according to 
Hogg in 1820, and appears to have been received as the 
standard to the present day, except that the Picotee 
has been, by cutting and selection, so refined that the 
feather has been replaced by the wire edge, and the 
feather and flash, or pick, would now be looked upon 
as a disqualification in a box or stand of Picotees. 
Thus the Carnation was divided into Flakes and 
Bizarres ; the former being striped with one colour on 
a pure white ground, while the latter is striped with 
two colours on a white ground. The Picotee is divided 
into a light and a heavy line on a white ground. 
Now comes the question, Why should the self-coloured 
and the fancy-coloured striped Carnation be excluded 
from the class, or stage flowers ? Is it because they are 
less beautiful ? Why is the flash, flame, or the feather 
excluded from the white ground or yellow-ground 
Picotee ? Surely those who think so can have had but 
little opportunity of seeing and knowing what our 
Continental neighbours have in this way. For exquisite 
beauty of colour and delicacy of marking commend me 
to fancy and self Carnations and Picotees. I have been 
told that those things may do for the border, but are 
inadmissible for exhibition purposes ; but it is a question 
now which are stage, and which are border flowers. 
Both are amenable to open ground, or pot culture ; 
and this I know, that in the eyes of the ladies, the 
most beautiful, and the most useful for decorative pur¬ 
poses are those which the professed florist would banish 
to the border. Let us, then, lay aside these one-sided 
restrictions, and let quality and beauty be our guide. 
For myself, I love beauty in every form, and for real 
and unalloyed enjoyment, give me a garden in which 
the Carnation and Picotee are grown in every variety 
of colour ; and if you have a garden, and would share 
my pleasure, now is the time to sow the seeds, but 
first of all to get them. Do not be put off with the 
cheap common stuff, but secure a small quantity from 
the best possible source, and sow it in February or 
March ; prick the seedlings out into boxes as soon 
as they are ready to handle, and plant them in the open 
ground when it is safe to do so. Protect the plants 
from the ravages of bird and insect pests by dusting 
the bed and the foliage with soot early in the morning 
when the dew is upon them, and you may confidently 
look forward to a glorious treat in 1890. But as time 
is precious, and some may prove a little impatient, I 
would say in such a case, send to some trustworthy 
grower at once for a small collection of the best stand¬ 
ard sorts, and put them into small pots. When they 
have filled these with roots, then either plant them 
in the bed or open border, or put them into suitable 
pots. If you do not get a satisfactory result—a per¬ 
fect feast of beauty—I shall be very greatly surprised. 
— William War dill, Luton. 
The Climbing Niphetos Rose. 
Niphetos is undoubtedly one of the best Tea Roses 
in cultivation, and the new climbing variety will prove 
as great an acquisition—a grand companion to the 
favourite Marechal Niel. It is very robust in habit 
and a vigorous grower, shoots upwards of 20 ft. in 
length having been developed in one season. It flowers 
very freely, producing magnificent blooms in great 
profusion from the lateral shoots. The flowers are a 
purer white than those of the old Niphetos (from 
which it is a sport), showing no tinge of pink as the 
old one does, while at the same time being more 
deliciously scented. Those who had the pleasure of 
seeing the plant exhibited last season at one of the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s meetings, where it obtained a 
First Class Certificate, will remember its free-flowering 
qualities, for the comparatively small plant shown in a 
pot bore four dozen splendid flowers. It has been 
blooming very freely through the winter months in one 
of the houses in the nurseries of Messrs. Keynes, 
Williams & Co., Salisbury, who hold the entire stock, 
and who purpose sending out the novelty in May of the 
present year. Rose growers may therefore look forward 
with confidence to, at least, one welcome addition to 
the many superb Roses already in cultivation. —Rusticus. 
Cineraria, Emperor Frederick. 
A large batch of this curious and beautiful variety is 
now rapidly advancing to flower in the nursery of 
Messrs. J. Carter & Co., Forest Hill. The ease and 
certainty with which it can be propagated may be 
judged by the hundreds of healthy plants which, in the 
course of a few weeks, will be in full bloom. As a 
variety, it is exceedingly distinct on account of the ray- 
florets, which are of a beautiful velvety purple, being 
stalked. The stalks are rose-coloured, and bein^ 
narrower than the blades, open spaces are left, forming 
a ring of openings round the disk, which is also purple. 
The leaves are distinctly narrower than those of seed 
lings of other kinds close by. It might be pointed out 
here that no pollen or seed is produced by the variety, 
so that it can only be propagated by offsets, which are 
very freely produced. 
-- XE <-- 
THE BLUE PRIMULA. 
A PROTEST. 
I AM not easily ruffled, and do not permit trifles to 
disturb the serenity of my mind, but as the modest 
worm turns when its tail (if it has one) is trodden upon, 
so I, Sir, must protest against the persistent efforts that 
have been made ever since Dame Nature planted me 
on this rude and uncharitable earth, to blacken my 
character or at least to rob me of the claim to certain 
personal charms that I maintain I am fully entitled to. 
Now, Sir, when Messrs. Carter displayed my charms 
as the first Blue Primula, I admit my form was some¬ 
what provincial and unrefined, but after rubbing 
shoulders, and occasionally by some more agreeable 
and certainly more amorous greetings with my fellows, 
I flatter myself that I am now qualified by my perfect 
appearance to move in the highest society. So much 
for form ; but, Sir, unkind, or perhaps it may be 
jealous critics say I sail under false colours, that I am 
not what I seem—in other words, I am not Blue. If 
I am not blue, Sir, then what on earth am I ? Are the 
Hyacinths C. Dickens, Orondates, Grand Lilas, Grande 
Maitre, and many more entitled to be called blue ? 
If so, then so am I. Is my modest friend the Forget- 
me-not blue ? Then so am I. Is the sky blue ? Then 
so am I, for in the fresh morning of my existence I 
challenge the most celestial sky to put my complexion 
in the shade. 
I admit that ofttimes, after considerable rounds of 
dissipation, my colour is less bright, but even then it 
is abetter blue than Charles DiekeDS. More than once 
or twice I have blushed, and then my colour might 
have changed for a time. You ask why I blushed ; I 
will tell you. I have always been taught to go straight, 
and I was ashamed to find that, from time to time, as I 
appeared in public, I was paraded as “The new beauty 
of the season,” whilst I felt sure that many of my first 
admirers would recognise me again, and inform the 
world that I was the original blue, sailing, or being 
sailed, against my will under a new name .—The Blue 
Primula. 
-- 
FUCHSIA TRIPHYLLA. 
The garden varieties of Fuchsia have so engaged the 
attention of horticulturists in general that many of the 
original species have altogether been overlooked or 
neglected, except in a few establishments—particularly 
botanic gardens—where they may be said to have taken 
refuge. The species under notice was originally intro¬ 
duced in 1842 from Pichinchia, and seems to have been 
lost or thoroughly neglected until recently. A reaction 
in its favour is now setting in ; and it is highly desir¬ 
able that it may find its way into every garden where 
such things are cultivated throughout the country. In 
general appearance it may be described as a F. fulgens, 
with smaller but more glowing flowers. The latter are 
of an orange or cinnabar-red, and produced in droopin 
racemes of great beauty, terminating the shoots of the 
plant. The leaves are moderately small, of a deep 
bronzy green, with conspicuous veins, and reddish 
beneath. One of the chief recommendations of the 
plant is its dwarf and bushy habit, ranging from 1 ft. 
to 2 ft. in height, so that it can easily be accommodated 
where space is limited, and good-sized plants of the 
cultivated kinds would be inadmissible. The objec¬ 
tion to many of the unimproved species, as being too tall, 
does not apply in the case of F. triphylla. We are 
indebted to Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, for an 
opportunity of figuring it. 
---*$»- 
Schutter’s Reinette Apple.— A figure of this 
new variety of Apple is given in the last number 
of the Bulletin d’Arboriculture. It was a chance 
variety found in a wood by Dr. E. E. Vleugel 
Schutter, of Oosterland, near Zierikze. Grafts were 
given by him to Mr. Van Der Have, who has propagated 
it extensively. It is described as a fruit of the first 
quality, and judging from the coloured plate, it is really 
a highly-coloured and handsome variety. In shape it 
is globular and rather deep, smooth, and of a deep 
yellow colour, heavily suffused with brownish crimson, 
and more or less striped with crimson. The flesh is 
yellowish, firm, of a true Reinette taste, and in season 
from October to February without undergoing the least 
alteration of taste or consistency of the flesh. The 
tree is very vigorous in growth, and a heavy cropper. 
