S04 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 19, 1898. 
FLiORIGUUTURE. 
The Florists’ Laced Pink. 
The spring of the present year, with its unusual 
drought and scorching heat, proved most injurious 
to the growth and blooming of the Pink ; and not 
only the Pink, but all other outdoor florists’ flowers 
have similarly suffered, and the dates of exhibitions 
were in consequence upset, and all had to be altered 
in hopes of suiting, as far as possible, the early 
bloom. But with alljhese precautions disappoint¬ 
ment was the result, the Pink exhibitions especially 
proving to be considerably too late for the bloom, 
both in regard to the Midland and Northern Sections. 
I have seen no report of any exhibition being held 
this year of the Southern Section of the National 
Pink Society, and neither have I noticed any allu¬ 
sions to it one way or the other, not even a line 
from its respected honorary secretary, Mr. Ranger 
Johnson. Let us hope that the great eftorts and 
valuable support this gentleman bestowed upon the 
society a year or two ago may not dwindle into 
oblivion, but on the contrary that we may be 
favoured periodically with a few lines of his useful 
and encouraging advice. 
Our good friends, the Rev. F. D. Horner, Mr. 
Wardell, Mr. Lakin, Mr. Arthur Brown, and Mr. G. 
Paul, Bridge-of-Weir, N.B., have done much in the 
past to keep the Pink before notice, and these true 
lovers of their old favourite flower will not be back¬ 
ward in the future, I feel convinced, in contributing 
occasionally a few lines in its favour, so that all 
young florists may be continually reminded of the 
pleasure in store for them by including amongst 
their other fancies the sweetly scented florists’ laced 
Pink. The Pink has lost one of its oldest patrons 
by the death of our much esteemed friend, the late 
Samuel Barlow, and his support was indeed great, 
for he was ever ready to promote its welfare, and 
never backward in praising and expatiating upon the 
flower he had loved and cherished from his boy¬ 
hood ! There are a few other men, both young and 
old, who still exist and who will never allow the 
Pink to sink into obscurity. Pardon me, therefore, 
for once more appealing to amateur florists, and 
especially to the numerous ones who have already 
taken up the Carnation and Picotee, for their 
support, and for asking them to voluntarily become 
members of the National Pink Society in their 
respective localities. 
The apparent failure of the Pink exhibitions this 
season is attributable to no causes its supporters 
could control, and whilst the Midland and Northern 
Sections are fairly well supported they are still 
hopeful of further encouragement, and their sub¬ 
scription lists are open to enlargement. The florists’ 
laced Pink, although one of the oldest flowers in 
cultivation, is only in its infancy as regards develop¬ 
ing into perfection, and such a state of perfection it 
may reach by perseverance and careful fertilization 
which will place it in excellence not second to the 
Picotee. Its delicious scent will always be many 
points in its favour, and its petals, both in substance, 
shape, and refinement, can be found now in some 
varieties equal to any Picotee, and my opinion is 
that in time the Pink will succeed in endearing itself 
in the eyes and hearts of all florists, and in all 
probability stand pre-eminent to the Picotee .—James 
Thurstan, Finsbury House, Richmond Road, Cardiff. 
-- 
RAYLESS VIOLAS AT 
CHISWICK. 
Amongst the extensive collection of Violas now on 
trial in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, at Chiswick, is a good percentage of rayless 
Violas sent by Dr. Stuart, of Chirnside, near 
Berwick. The term "rayless” is meant to include all 
those Violas which have no lines or streaks radiating 
from the eye of the lip nor from the base of the two 
lateral petals. As a matter of course, this term 
would also include the miniature Violas represented 
by Violetta, which may be described as the starting 
point, not from which all the miniature strain 
emanated, but which practically gave the stimulus 
for the creation of a new race. There is practically, 
then, two distinct strains of rayless Violas, a large 
and a small flowered one, but it must be acknow¬ 
ledged that when well grown many of the miniature 
varieties have flowers of a size intermediate between 
the two extremes. « 
Large Flowered Varieties. 
Countess of Hopetoun was one of the parents of 
the large flowered section of rayless Violas, but that 
even shows rays in the heat of summer, particularly 
when the plants are getting played-out through dry 
weather. Sylvia may be regarded as the type by 
some, as it seems to be pretty constantly rayless and 
was one of Dr. Stuart’s seedlings. Sylvia White 
and King of Whites appear to us identical, and are 
'certainly much purer in colour than either of the 
two previously mentioned, and which are creamy- 
white. Albino is like Sylvia, but it has the large 
yellow blotch of Violetta upon the lip and is both 
dwarf and floriferous. Sweet Lavender is a pale or 
lavender blue variety with a white blotch at the 
base of the lip, and is like the last in habit and 
free-flowering nature. George Muirhead we 
described in a previous issue as having received 
three marks from the Chiswick Committee, an 
honour which was also accorded to Sylvia. 
A number of new varieties has this year been 
added to the list on trial, and the most of them 
belong to the large flowered type. Queen of the 
May and Cynthia are pale sulphur-yellow varieties 
that are too closely similar for both to be retained. 
The last-named has a slightly larger golden eye, 
showing the effect of Violetta. Primulina is a shade 
deeper than Cynthia, but otherwise similar, and 
being the most distinct should merit the preference. 
Cordelia and Christiania are white varieties with a 
large golden blotch at the eye; but the latter is the 
purest white of the two, and is in fact a larger and 
improved form of Sylvia's Rival, an older and beau¬ 
tiful form. Christiana would here again be the form 
we should retain. The palest of the self-coloured 
blue varieties sent to Chiswick is Niobe, which may 
be described as a pale lilac-blue, fading to lavender, 
with a golden eye. It is dwarf and free flowering. 
For those who like pale coloured varieties it is 
certainly an acquisition. It is quite distinct from 
Sweet Lavender, and that again pales before Blue 
Gown, the finest of all the rayless blue sorts. The 
flowers are large, circular, and bright purple-blue, 
with an indigo blue shading in the centre. The eye 
is small and golden-yellow, without any blotch as 
seen in Sweet Lavender. Being of the same dwarf 
and floriferous habit as the latter with finer and 
richer flowers, it should prove useful for edging beds 
of other plants or for mixing with dwarf subjects by 
way of contrast. 
Claudia is a variety which is pure white on the 
inner face, but is uniformly shaded with lavender on 
the back, and that shines through the petals making 
its effect visible on the white ground. The flowers 
of Mary Scott are large, wavy, and creamy-white, 
but likewise washed with lilac on the back and 
occasionally having a splash of the same colour on 
the face. Striped flowers are by no means plentiful 
amongst this strain, but Border Witch is an exception 
and has large flowers, striped, lined, and netted with 
lavender or lilac-blue on a white ground. It is a 
robust and free flowering variety and may prove 
useful to take the place of Dawn of Day, which 
many growers find a difficult sort to grow satis¬ 
factorily. 
Miniature Varieties. 
As already remarked, some of the sorts which 
may be placed in this group have flowers of tolerably 
large size, and in fact equal to those of several old 
and distinctly rayed varieties that are well known 
and more or less extensively grown all over the 
country, including Blue Bell, True Blue, Ariel, 
Beauty of Chipping Norton, and many others. 
Quite equal to those in size is Snowdrift, which 
would be of remarkable purity were it not that a 
faint shade of colour suffuses the back of the petals, 
and shines through upon the face of the flower ac¬ 
cording to the incident rays of light. Notwithstand¬ 
ing this defect it is certainly a choice and handsome 
sort, with a small golden yellow eye. Some con¬ 
noisseurs consider Blush Queen as the best and 
choicest of the miniature types, because so delicately 
flushed with blush lilac. The lip has the golden 
blotch of Violetta. The flowers are larger this year 
than last, slightly darker in colour, and very freely 
produced. White Lady is of the palest sulphur 
when it expands, but soon becomes white with the 
exception of the blotch of Violetta upon the lip. It 
grows erect, compact, and flowers freely. As the 
name hints at the fact, the top petals of Summer 
Cloud are netted or clouded with pale blue. The 
lip has the golden blotch of Violetta. The variety 
is certainly pretty. Marginata and Springville are 
too nearly identical to be retained as distinct 
varieties. They are white, and lightly but variously 
edged with blue, and having the blotch of Violetta 
on the lip. It seems a matter of fancy as to which 
of the two should be retained, for we cannot see a 
difference between them as grown in the beds. 
Another edged variety is Picotee, which has evi¬ 
dently been derived from Ariel or one of the same 
strain. It behaves exactly in the same way as seed¬ 
lings derived from Ariel. Sometimes the flowers are 
pure white and rayless with a small golden yellow 
eye, or they may have a few rays ; the edge may be 
more or less distinctly and neatly edged with blue ; 
the back may be variously shaded or marbled on 
the back with a blue shade, toning the white ; some 
flowers again are lined or netted on the face almost 
like Dawn of Day. It is certainly a pretty and free 
flowering variety, but very fickle and inconstant. 
There are two miniature yellow varieties in the col¬ 
lection, namely. Golden Gage and Old Gold, but the 
latter is certainly the prettiest. The flowers are 
oblong-oval, with a golden yellow lip, and the rest is 
paler with a white edge. The foliage, if not the 
habit of the plant, is better than that of Golden 
Gage and the flowers darker. 
--T-—-■ 
CALADIUMS. 
Caladiums are once more coming to the front for 
decorative purposes. Improvement continues to be 
made, as is evidenced by the new varieties being 
brought before the public from time to time and 
honoured with certificates. We are pleased to see 
the introduction of the smaller-leaved kinds, for they 
are useful for decoration in cases where large plants 
would be inadmissible. Large specimens with huge 
leaves are all very well for exhibition purposes, but 
dwarf kinds or small plants of the larger and beauti¬ 
ful leaved kinds are always in request. Varied and 
delicate colouring is a feature of the newer varieties, 
while at the same time it cannot be ignored that 
some of the old kinds can hardly be surpassed in 
these respects. Caladium Argyrites is one of the 
best known and indispensible of the miniature kinds i 
and it has a beautiful companion in C. minus 
erubescens with small deep red leaves, with a broad 
green border. Not much larger is Le Nain Rouge 
with small crimson-red leaves. Marguerite Gelenier 
is also of dwarf habit with delicate rosy-pink leaves. 
Very suitable also for table decoration is Souvenir 
de Para, having small crimson leaves with a pale 
green margin. New varieties suitable for decorative 
purposes are recorded by us from time to time. The 
varied colour markings of Caladiums, often difficult to 
describe, may be gleaned by reference to the accom¬ 
panying illustration, for which we are indebted to 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. 
-- 
THE SWEET PEA. 
" R. D.’s” very interesting notes in your last issue, 
relative to the above subject, must be my excuse for 
troubling your readers with an amplification of those 
views. As " R. D.” himself publishes a very respec¬ 
table list of the “ Sweet ” things here mentioned, I 
have a right to assume that he, as a nurseryman and 
lover of hardy plants generally, has given a good 
deal of attention, particularly to the matter now under 
review. His comments on varieties, culture, etc., 
must be extremely useful to those who, like myself, 
are desirous of acquiring a more extended knowledge 
of this class of plant. But Sweet Peas, unfortu¬ 
nately, like some other forms of what should be 
fragrant vegetation—notably Roses and Carnations 
—have elected to abandon that special qualification 
by which they are universally known and sought 
after, and have given us instead beauty in colour and 
form it is true, but minus their chief characteristic— 
fragrance. 
A Rose or a Carnation by any other name would 
smell as sweet will be readily granted—that is when 
they are odoriferous at all—but a Sweet Pea, by 
virtue of its specific designation, belies its name if 
odour is entirely absent from its bright papiliona¬ 
ceous flowers. The Rose and the Carnation pro¬ 
duce some [many— Ed.] scentless forms; we are 
accustomed to them ; fragrance is not, in their case, 
implied ; but the " Sweet ” Pea without sweetness is 
more than can be endured. And yet this serious 
defect is, I believe peculiar to not a few otherwise 
fine varieties. How many, it would be instructive to 
