THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 20, 1889. 
The Florists' Laced Pink. 
I heartily wish Mr. Thurstan all success in his 
endeavours to revive a more general interest in the 
beautiful laced Pinks beloved by all florists. It was 
one of my earliest floricultural loves, I do not care to 
remember how many years ago ; and if of late years 
my affection may have grown cooler, I will not say 
cold, it is simply because of the difficulties I have 
experienced in growing Pinks satisfactorily in metro¬ 
politan suburbs. For this reason, mainly, the 
Carnation and Pico tee have to some extent superseded 
their rival—I can scarcely bring myself to say humbler 
rival—in my floral regards. With the aid of a little 
glass, I can delight myself with a galaxy of fairly- 
coloured Carnations and Picotees even in the midst 
of London smoke ; but I have not found the laced 
Pink amenable to similar treatment. I fancy, however, 
that other reasons have operated to the prejudice of 
the Pink in, at least, the southern counties of England. 
Last summer must not be taken as a criterion, on 
account of the adverse weather, but I have heard bad 
accounts of Pinks near London for several years past. 
This may to some extent have been due to neglect and 
bad growing, which again may have arisen from the 
gradual passing out of fashion of an old public favourite. 
Fashions change in flowers as well as in bonnets, and 
when a certain style goes out of fashion no one takes 
the trouble to work up or improve that particular 
style, so that eventually it becomes neglected, if not 
absolutely forgotten. I may illustrate this by an 
incident that occurred to me the other day when 
endeavouring to interest the manager of the floral 
department of a large establishment—1 will not say 
whether private or public, because I do not wish to 
give the slightest clue to his identity. I told him that 
in common with others I was trying to do something 
to revive an interest in the florists’ laced Pink. 
“Why, what do you call that?” said he; “some 
sort of a Dianthus, I suppose?” “Yes,” I said, “it 
is some sort of a Dianthus, but upon my life I can’t 
give you a botanical name that will help you to 
recognise it. Surely, however, you know the lovely 
white Pinks, each petal laced with crimson, purple, and 
chocolate, like a heavy-edged-Pico tee in miniature?” 
“Ah, well,” said he, “yes, I think I did seesomething 
of that sort some years ago.’’ Now, this gentleman is 
an accomplished florist, growing all sorts of stuff, from 
Daisies to Dracienas, Camellias to Cauliflowers; but his 
hair is not so “thin on the top ” as that of some of us, 
so probably he has never seen a good stage of Pinks. 
This is the lamentable state of affairs which the 
National Pink Society must set itself to rectify. I 
am afraid, from the small number of communications 
that have come to hand at present, that there are too 
many who are not quite clear as to what sort of a 
Dianthus the laced Pink is, while probably still fewer 
have half a dozen specimens in their gardens. 
Our chief difficulty will be to find out who has any 
Pinks, more particularly in the southern and home 
counties. I have no doubt our friends in the Midlands 
will give a good account of themselves. I am asking 
all my friends, and shall hunt up all the growers 
possible to be found. I shall prowl around gardens, 
both public and private, and keep a sharp look-out for 
Pinks, sending the result of my observations to the 
editor of The Gardening World and the secretary of 
our society, when we have one. I fear we may not 
have much success the first year, but if Pink lovers will 
only bestir themselves and wake up their neighbours, 
there is no good reason why we should not have a good 
muster in 1890. Although I have not written before 
on this subject, since Mr. Thurstan first initiated 
the revival of Pink worship, I have watched the 
correspondence wdth anxious attention. When Mr. 
Thurstan’s first letter appeared, I was just leaving 
London for the west of England. While there I 
spied about, peering over fences and high walls, and 
behaving otherwise in a suspicious manner, searching for 
concealed treasures. It was, however, too late in the 
season to do more than guess by the character of the 
foliage as to what the bloom would be like, and it was 
not until I arrived at Bath on my way back that I 
came across anything like a stock. I knew my old 
friend the late Henry Hooper was a rare lover of the 
Pink, and one who had raised many meritorious seed¬ 
lings, and I was glad to find his son and successor 
inherited the same excellent taste. It was refreshing 
to find a batch of strong healthy plants, including 
most of the best old varieties, and promising well for 
the next season. I found upon inquiry that laced 
Pinks were still cultivated in many of the cottage 
gardens, but not in a scientific or intelligent manner so 
as to bring out all the best qualities of the flower. This, 
however, is not to be wondered at, for there has been 
no inducement or encouragement to give it any special 
attention. Coming nearer London I looked in at the 
Royal Nurseries, Slough, and was glad to find that 
John Ball had not forgotten his early love, although 
the pressing claims of more fashionable subjects had 
cast just a temporary shadow over the old favourites. 
Still, I believe he only lacks the opportunity, when the 
veteran Pink grower would win new honours for 
Messrs. Turner. 
I begin to think it is high time to wind up this 
rambling discourse with something in the way of a 
practical suggestion. First of all, we must have a 
working secretary to bring us together and lick us into 
shape. I am willing to share the work, but I cannot 
pledge myself to be on any given date at any particular 
place, being a vagrant Bohemian sort of person. I 
shall also be willing to contribute half-a-guinea 
annually in the way of subscription, and one guinea 
yearly to provide a Hooper prize for Pinks, in remem¬ 
brance of my old friend, to be awarded under such 
conditions as the committee of the society, when 
formed, may determine. As some extra expense for 
advertising and appealing will be incurred the first 
year, I will gladly double my subscription for that 
period. 
One other suggestion I would throw out : Shall we be 
strong enough to run alone ? How would it do to take 
another neglected floral beauty under our wing, say 
the Pansy, and model our society on the lines of the 
National Auricula and Carnation Society ? Time was 
when I have seen crowds of admiring devotees around 
the shrines of the Pansy and Pink (not at the same 
exhibition, of course) at the Crystal Palace, Regent’s 
Park and South Kensington ; but how long is it since 
anyone saw a stand of show Pansies in London ? Perhaps 
another correspondent may suggest a more appropriate 
subject, or it may be decided to stick to the Pink, 
which is perfection, as the saying goes. Anyway, the 
movement has my best wishes, and shall have my 
heartiest support.— E. Ranger Johnson, Kennington, 
April loth. 
Auricula Gossip. 
Could we only enjoy a week or ten days of balmy 
sunny weather, the show of Auriculas on the 23rd 
would be, I think, one of the best seen for years. But 
it is much a question of suitable weather to bring them 
on. How slowly it seems to us they unfold their pips ! 
I have a Prince of Greens that seems as far now from 
being fully blown as it did a fortnight ago, so slow 
is the rate of progress. The Rev. F. D. Horner, 
writing on the 8th, states :—“ I do not think Auriculas 
with me ever looked richer, if as rich. But at present 
the slower and mightier edges are late, and the plants 
being full of force, a good truss takes more time to 
finish. Unless weather improves I shall not have my 
best edges ready for London. The weather is gloomy, 
the wind always cold, and nights lack balminess.” 
The experience of growers round London is similar. I 
am writing on the 10th ; two weeks hence is the show, 
and I have not a single expanded pip of a show variety, 
so my chances of exhibiting on the 23rd are small 
indeed. 
In his letter, referring to seedling Auriculas, Mr. 
Horner states, 1 ‘ I have so far only one pin eye among 
the 1889 seedlings,” that is, seedlings flowering for the 
first time this year, and he goes on to say—“It 
just happens to be a lovely green edge, with ruby- 
crimson velvet body ! It is very vexatious, and all I 
can do is to keep it for seed, though I do not believe 
in the safety of pin-eyed parentage. It is certainly a 
transmission taint more or less, but still marked.” It 
is just a little singular that only the day previous I got 
a letter from Mr. James Thurstan referring to the 
seedling Alpine Auriculas from his seed I mentioned 
at p. 501, and he also alluded to the pin-eyed form as 
a parent. It will be remembered I made allusion to a 
seedling white-centred Alpine with a pin eye that I 
thought might make a useful parent. Mr. Thurstan 
advises me to “Go on crossing good pin-eyes, such as 
you describe. My idea is that seed from the pin-eyed 
Polyanthus or Auricula will produce the usual average 
of rose or thrum-eyed varieties.” 
I am disposed to agree with Mr. Horner’s conclusions, 
and I think his plan of seeding from the finest thrum¬ 
eyed varieties has had a great deal to do with the 
production of the splendid new forms he exhibits from 
time to time. 
Since the morning of the 9th until now, noon of the 
10th, there has been an almost ceaseless downpour of 
rain, and a heavy, musty, cloudy sky. It is impossible 
that flowers can come forward, Mr. Samuel Barlow, 
writing on the 9 th, informs me that his “Auriculas, &c., 
are very late. Hetty Dean only in bloom, and not full 
blooms of that, nothing else, and fear that I shall not 
be in anything like bloom on the 23rd, and may not 
appear at Drill Hall.” I shall be sorry if we cannot see 
Mr. Barlow’s new Alpine Auriculas and his gold-laced 
Polyanthus. They materially helped the show last 
year, and he shows us how gold-laced Polyanthus can 
be grown, so as to exhibit fine quality of flower.— R. D. 
Cinerarias at Farnham Royal. 
Mr. James’ strain of Cinerarias—the attainment of 
which represents so many years of patient cross¬ 
fertilisation and selection—is so far in advance of all 
others, that a pilgrimage to Farnham Royal, when the 
plants are in bloom, has become an annual event to be 
noted and religiously made in our annual floral calendar. 
Time was, and not so many years ago either, when the 
Cineraria, as obtained from the ordinary seed supplied 
by the trade, was essentially a plant of a very weedy 
character, with flowers which though bright and 
cheerful enough in the mass, in no way individually 
conformed to the florist’s ideal of perfect form. Now, 
however, we have a type of flower, as illustrated by 
Mr. James’ strain, which it is hard to conceive can be 
in any way improved from a decorative point of view. 
The flowers—many of which measure 3 ins. and more 
in diameter—are quite large enough, to increase the 
size on this standard would be a very questionable gain, 
and must at first be associated with a coarseness of 
development that is not now tolerated. In substance, 
breadth, flatness, the refined beauty of the recurved 
florets, the black discs, and richness of colouring, the 
flowers leave nothing to be desired, and all that one 
can apparently hope for in the future is novelty in 
the arrangement of the colours, or an increase in the 
depth or intensity of some of the hues at present 
existing. Thus, up to about three years ago there 
were no really good shades of blue, but Mr. James has 
made great strides in this particular colour, and now 
has some fine flowers in both the self and parti¬ 
coloured sections. 
For several years the Farnham Royal strain, to our 
thinking, contained too great a proportion of self- 
coloured flowers, which, though grand os they un¬ 
doubtedly are in quality, yet lack the liveliness or 
sparkling character of the parti-coloured flowers which 
have the white ring round the disc. A fair or 
moderate proportion of seifs is most welcome and 
useful for making contrasts, but in all good displays of 
Cinerarias we are convinced that the largest proportion 
should be of bi-coloured flowers ; and Mr. James recog¬ 
nising this fact has wisely gone in more for this style 
of flower than he did a few years ago. Besides im¬ 
proving the blue section, Mr. James has also had an 
eye to novelty in other directions, and among his 
seedlings flowering for the first time, he has some 
striped or flaked flowers which give promise of a novel 
section that may prove most acceptable, and of which 
we hope to see in the future satisfactory developments. 
The situation of Mr. James’ houses—a breezy upland 
site on the border of the far-famed Burnham Beeches— 
and the light airy character of the span-roofed houses 
in which he grows his plants, are certainly elements 
which favour the production of bright colours ; but 
still the breed is there, and unquestionably good it is. 
Mr. James does not now grow his plants so large as 
he used to do, either those intended for exhibition or 
for seed production ; finding, perhaps, that a medium¬ 
sized pot gives him better returns in the way of seed 
production. Certain it is that he now uses only 
32-sized pots, and these give him sturdy, neat-habited 
plants with grand heads of flowers, and all as uniform 
in size and character as if cast in a mould. 
New Cinerarias. 
Victor. —The flower-heads of this variety may be 
described as of a deep crimson-red, with the rays 
arranged in a regularly spiral and imbricated manner— 
that is, they overlap each other in a very regular way. 
They are also broad, and somewhat recurved at the 
tips. 
Conqueror. —In this we have a deep magenta self, 
with a deep violet-purple disk. The flower-heads are 
very large. 
Paul Jones. —Flower-heads large and of a deep 
purple-red, with a narrow white zone round the central 
purple disk. 
Favourite. —The rays of this beautiful form are of 
a rich velvety maroon-purple, with a carmine spot at 
