776 
August 6, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
INTS FOR MMATEURS. 
BORDER CARNATIONS. 
When Shakespeare wrote that “ the fairest flowers 
of the season are our Carnations,” he used words 
that would be as true if spoken to-day as they were 
in his own age. Other flowers too, have improved 
in the lapse of years since Shakespeare’s day and 
this, the latter end of the nineteenth century, but 
the Carnation has also improved, and has moreover, 
distanced many other flowers in the race; indeed, it 
would not be too much to say that the Carnation of 
to-day holds a higher place amongst its con¬ 
temporaries than did the flower of Shakespeare's 
time. True, he used the superlative “ fairest," but 
this was only the expression of an individual opinion 
which may or may not have been endorsed by other 
writers and gardeners of his age. 
Nowadays the month of July sees the Carnation, 
with which we include for the time being the 
Picotee, which is only a florist’s variety, in a very 
flux of beauty in our gardens. Scarcely would it be 
possible to find a garden in which some plants are 
not grown, whilst in all establishments of any size a 
considerable amount of space is devoted to them. 
As a rule the popular idea of a good flower and 
the florist's idea are two very distinct, and not infre¬ 
quently opposite things, and the Carnation affords a 
case in point. The lay flower-lover does not go into 
ecstacies over the definiteness and regularity of a 
stripe, and the restriction of this stripe to a certain 
area. He does not, as a rule, care how many petals 
the flower has so long as it has enough to make a 
show ; given this, he does not trouble whether the 
petals are notched or smooth, broad or narrow, thick 
or thin, but the next thing he asks for is colour. 
Generally speaking he likes a decided scarlet, a 
bright rose, a rich yellow, or a pure white. If he be 
of aesthetic tastes he finds time to admire some of 
the numerous half tones or shades of these colours, 
but there is no overwhelming note in favour of these 
as there is with the crimsons, the scarlets, the yel¬ 
lows and the whites. 
The fancy varieties also take his fancy, more 
especially those in which shades of yellow mixed 
with purple, rose, scarlet and other almost indefin¬ 
able hues exist. These are the flowers that puzzle 
the florist to classify. They will not be classified, 
for they will conform'to none of the florist’s rules, 
so for want of a better term the word “ fancy ” is 
applied, which may mean anything or nothing, and 
is in fact a sort of waste heap into which all non¬ 
descript forms are gathered. Possibly the uncon¬ 
ventionality of the flotsam and jetsam of the florist 
attracts the man in the street, but it is a fact that he 
has a soft spot in his affection for them, and likes to 
grow them when he can. 
Flakes and bizarres are the pets of the florist, the 
aristocrats amongst Carnations, but like other 
pampered pets they are exceedingly intractable. 
Their distinctive bars of colour will not keep true, 
but run into the ground colour, and become blurred 
and indistinct or disappear altogether. We do 
not know why they do it, or the exact conditions that 
cause them to behave in this way, we only know that 
it is a common practice and one that florists deeply 
deplore. At one time it was thought to be the soil, 
then the weather was blamed, and, of course, when 
we are reduced to this there is very little hope indeed 
of finding a reason for things. At one time the 
opinion was held that a very hot and dry season 
would cause a good many of the flowers to “run,” 
but it was soon found that fully as many flowers 
went wrong in a wet year, and there was an end to 
that idea. Similarly other supposed causes were 
found, subjected to investigation and declared to be 
out of the question. The “ running ” of flakes and 
bizarres may therefore now be put into the same 
category as the rectifying of Tulips—it is a mystery. 
The man in the street, however, does not like 
mysteries. Give him a big flower with plenty of rich 
colour, and he can appreciate it, but he has not been 
educated up to the standpoint when he is able to 
appreciate the masterpieces of the florist. 
It is in the direction of self coloured varieties that 
his tastes chiefly lie, and who will say that his choice 
is not a good one. Within the last few years such 
eminent florists as Mr. Martin Smith and Mr. Jas. 
Douglas have turned their attention specially in this 
direction, and the section of *' seifs ” is now not only 
numerically the strongest but the most important 
from the gardener’s point of view. Malmaison 
Carnations largely took the eye of the public by 
reason of their very size, but in the self-coloured 
border varieties we have many flowers that are 
almost as large as Malmaisons. Such sorts, for in¬ 
stance, as Cassandra, King Arthur, Miss Audrey 
Campbell, Exile, and Endymion, produce flowers of 
huge size when the plants are well grown. Of 
colours we have almost every conceivable shade, 
except the much sought after and still unattaiQed 
blue. The rich purple Bendigo is, however, well 
on the way, and in a few years time we may be con¬ 
gratulating ourselves that the long sought for has 
been found at last, and the blue Carnation, the 
Ultima Thule of the hopes of the Carnation lover 
has been reached at last. 
In several points the florist and the layman are in 
accord. We have already noticed the question of 
size. Next comes that of "pod bursting. 1 The 
older forms were all of them much addicted to the 
bursting of the calyx, or "pod,” as it is commonly 
called. This was a grave defect because the calyx 
once burst there was nothing to hold the petals 
together, they fell apart, and a straggling, ragged- 
looking flower was the result. Such flowers not only 
looked anything but handsome but they soon faded 
and withered. In order to do away with this defect 
at the time —to give temporary relief, as it were, the 
calyx of the flower had to be tied round before the 
bloom had yet fully expanded by pieces of string or 
raffia, until someone hit upon the idea of small 
elastic rings, which were not only neater but were 
far more expeditiously fixed on than the strings. 
But this was not striking at the root of matters, it 
was only temporising, and so the florists set to work 
to produce a race of plants with stouter calyces that 
would not break and would not therefore need to be 
supported by strings and rings. In this laudable 
enterprise they have abundantly succeeded, and the 
old varieties that used to split their " pods ” have 
been entirely superseded with modern ones that do 
not except under exceptional circumstances. Of 
course when we get a very large and heavy flower 
the strain which the calyx has to bear as the result 
of the compression of a great number of petals 
within its tube is occasionally too great, and a split 
accordingly takes place. Despite this, however, we 
may, generally speaking, claim that " pod bursting ” 
is now a thing of the past. 
Improvement in the habit of the plants has also 
been kept constantly in view, and the modern forms 
are certainly taller and more vigorous than the old 
ones, whilst they are far and away ahead of them 
with regard to floriferousness. It is really astonish¬ 
ing to see how freely seedlings bloom, and this par¬ 
ticular feature is sure to strike one who has had to do 
with layered plants all his life, and who looks upon 
a bed of seedlings for the first time. 
The question of form is one over which the florist’s 
ideal and the tastes of the layman do not entirely 
agree. The florist strives for a round petal of good 
substance with a margin smooth and entirely free 
from notches or cutting of any sort. The layman 
likes the bold substantial petals well enough, but the 
notching of the petals is to him a matter of no 
consequence, indeed some of his greatest favourites 
exhibit that characteristic. Take for instance the 
variety Waterwitch : here the notched petals add to 
rather than detract from the beauty of the flowers 
in many peoples’ estimation, as a proof of which we 
find that the variety is very largely grown. 
A most important advance has been made with 
regard to the lengthening of the flower stems. 
Formerly these were all short and dumpy, with the 
exception of those belonging to the central and 
primary flowers. Now we find that they are all 
much longer, even those of the secondary or side 
flowers, which are thrown out from the sides of the 
main stems after the first flowers are over. We, in 
this country, have not attached so much importance 
to this point as our American friends have done. 
There they insist on the flowers having long stalks, 
and a moment’s reflection will convince anyone of 
the greatly increased value of a flower with a good 
stalk in all decorative undertakings. It is most 
likely that American ideas with regard to Carnations 
set an example to the Britisher, in the same way as 
was done with Chrysanthemums, for the practice of 
showing them with long stalks was a distinct follow¬ 
ing of American example.— Rex. 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening will be answered on this page. 
Anyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
" Amateurs' Page ” on the top op their letters. 
Ficus radicans yariegata.— H. G .: It was the 
variegated form of Ficus radicans received an Award 
of Merit in May, and a First-class Certificate in 
September of last year from the Royal Horticultural 
Society. If, however, it is the green form that you 
want, and not the variegated one, you would no 
doubt get it from Messrs. Jas. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., 
Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea. The variegated 
form could probably be obtained from the same firm, 
but if not, certainly from Mr. Wm. Bull, 536, King’s 
Road, Chelsea. 
Standard zonal Pelargoniums.— Iris: You ought 
to experience no difficulty in growing standard 
Pelargoniums. The most reliable method is to take 
seedliogs from really good varieties, for seedlings are 
stronger growers than plants developed from cuttings, 
and it is thus easier to get a good stout stem, capable 
of carrying the weight of a head. The young plants 
may be allowed to grow away until they have reached 
the required height. In the meantime all lateral or 
side growths should be removed, cutting them back 
close to the stem ; also all flowers after the first 
truss. It is necessary to allow the latter to develop 
in order that the quality of the flower may be seen, 
as it would be provoking to grow a plant on for two 
or three years to form a standard, only to find at the 
end of that time that it is a comparatively poor 
variety. A better plan is to graft a good variety on 
the top of the stock. 
Araucaria excelsa .—Conifer : This handsome 
Araucaria does not need to be shifted very often. A 
comparatively small pot will carry a large plant with 
perfect safety. If your plant commences to show 
signs of starvation, which it usually does first of all 
by turning a very pale green, you may give it a little 
liquid cow manure about twice a week. If a little 
soot is mixed with the cow manure so much the 
better. Take the plant out of the window occasion¬ 
ally and sprinkle it overhead or syringe it with clear 
water. These washings will help it greatly. In 
giving the manure water it will be necessary for 
obvious reasons to stand the plant out of doors until 
the superfluous water has all drained away. 
Tree Carnations.— Llanelly : The plants are too 
small to flower during the coming winter, since they 
are only now in small thumb pots. You should 
pinch the points out of the plants, and then after 
they have commenced to throw out side shoots 
they may be potted up into large 6o’s. 
Linaria Cymbalaria.— C.T .: Although this pretty 
little creeping plant, popularly known as Mother of 
Thousands, is a common British weed there are many 
subjects cultivated that are less beautiful. We have 
seen numbers grown in windows of London houses, 
and they not only resist the smoke and grow freely, 
but produce their lilac-coloured flowers in great 
abundance. There is a cultivated variety with 
white flowers, but in our estimation the lilac coloured 
one is the better of the two. 
Peach Leaves Dropping.—The leaves on my 
Peach tree under glass have commenced to drop, 
although the fruit is not much more than half grown. 
The trees have, of course, plenty of leaves left yet, 
but is not the occurrence an unnatural one ? The 
fallen leaves are all curled and twisted up as if jhey 
had been burnt.— A.R. 
We do not doubt that red spider is the immediate 
cause of the trouble which if allowed to go on must 
inevitably do great damage to the tree. If you 
examine the leaves closely you will find the minute, 
red insects in considerable numbers, and they turn 
the leaves to that reddish-brown or brown hue that 
is followed by their fall. If the tree is very badly 
affected it will be well to syringe it with a solution 
of Nicotine Soap, following the instructions given on 
the label. After this give heavy syringings of clear 
water twice daily, that is morning and evening. If 
the pest has not attacked the whole of the tree the 
washings with clear water will probably be effectual 
without the agency of the insecticide. The syring¬ 
ings will be almost sure to bring down a lot of the 
leaves, but this will not matter as they would be sure 
