1884 .] 
the AMERICAN GARDEN. 
27 
DIANTHUS. 
In the Dianthus family we have no showier 
members than those which hail from China 
and Japan. They are truly gorgeous in 
color, and these colors are combined in such 
a variety of ways that the result is very 
pleasing to any one who is fond of brilliant 
effects. These Pinks bloom very profusely, 
and are particularly useful for cutting, com¬ 
bining well with most other garden llowers, 
though really more satisfactory, I think, when 
used by themselves. 
It is a fact that we do not often see spoken 
of that most flowers appear to better ad¬ 
vantage in vases or bouquets when kept by 
themselves. It is 
true that there are 
some kinds which 
combine well with 
others, but not many. 
Use a dozen different 
kinds of flowers in 
the same vase, and 
the effect is never as 
flue as if but one 
kind were used. If 
you have never no¬ 
ticed this, try it, and 
I am confident that 
you will not use more 
than two or three 
kinds at the most in 
the same vase. 
These Pinks can be 
brought into bloom 
quite eai'ly by start¬ 
ing the seeds in the 
house if you have 
not a hot-bed con¬ 
venient. Keep the 
plants strong and 
healthy until it is 
safe to jjut them in 
oiDeii ground, by giv¬ 
ing them all the sun¬ 
shine you can, plenty 
of fresh air on pleas¬ 
ant days, and only 
enough water to keep 
the earth they are 
growing ‘ in moist. 
When they begin to 
grow in the garden, 
pinch out the top, to 
induce branching. 
Most of them will 
come double, but the 
single ones are well 
worth growing, on 
account of theii* fine 
colors and brilliant 
markings. Many of 
them will have fringed petals, and be quite 
as double and large, if not as fragrant, as 
the Carnation, which is an aristocratic rela¬ 
tive. These Pinks will continue in bloom 
all through the season and should be in 
every garden, U- Anthcs. 
they flower generaUy after the flowering 
season of most hardy annuals is past, they 
become indispensable wherever a continu¬ 
ous bloom is desired. 
The ordinary hot-bed of stable manure 
offers the simplest means of obtaining a 
gentle bottom heat suilieiont for most seeds, 
though when other more perfect resources 
are available, they will of course be employed. 
In many eases the seeds are sown on the 
layer of soil which covers tlio hot-bed, but 
the most usual and by far the best plan is to 
sow them in pots or seed-pans,—the latter 
being preferable, as they are more shallow 
than pots, and afford a larger sui'faee in pro¬ 
half-haedt and tender anneals. 
Under this term are understood all those 
annual flowering plants which, although they 
bloom freely in the open ground, require arti¬ 
ficial heat to assist germination and promote 
their early growth. Among this class are 
found some of the most beautiful and most 
interesting treasures of the garden; and as 
GROUP OF DIANTHUS. 
portion to their breadth. If these cannot 
be procured, shallow boxes will answer. 
The pots should be quite dry and clean 
when used, and to insure thorough drainage, 
which, essential for all plants, is doubly so 
for seedlings, must be filled at least one- 
third their depth with broken crocks or Imnps 
of charcoal, the largest fi-agments being 
placed at the bottom and the smallest at the 
top. A uniform compost of light sandy loam, 
enriched by a considerable mixture of fine 
leaf mold, or very old hot-bed manure, kept 
till it can easily be rubbed to powder, may be 
used. 
Pill the pots lightly with soil to the brim, 
when the pot should be gently struck to 
settle the mass about half an inch from the 
brim. If it should settle below that point, a 
little more may be added. When a sufficient 
number of pots are filled, the surface of each 
should bo gently leveled by pressm-e w'ith 
a circular piece of wood having a clean, 
smooth surface, which, from rendering the 
smaller seeds more evident to the eye, 'svill 
facilitate their equal distribution. The seeds 
should bo uniformly and thinly scattered 
over the flattened surface, and be then cov¬ 
ered by a slight layer of pulverized soil, 
which for most seeds need not be thicker 
than a twenty-five cent piece, after which 
the surface may again be slightly pressed, 
then gently watered with a very fine rose 
watering-pot, and it 
is ready to be placed 
in a frame. 
In the case of very 
small seeds, the cov¬ 
ering of the soil 
should be very thin, 
barely covering the 
seeds, and as seeds 
so minute are liable 
to be carried down 
into the soil, unless 
very carefully wa¬ 
tered, it is even ad¬ 
visable to moisten 
the flattened sm-face 
of soil in the pot 
before sowing the 
seeds, instead of 
afterward. Place the 
pots containing the 
seeds on the hot-bed, 
or in the gi’eenhouse 
near the glass. Keep 
them shaded, which 
will prevent absorp¬ 
tion by the rays of 
the sun, and the con¬ 
sequent necessity of 
frequent watering, 
■which cakes the soil, 
and does much mis¬ 
chief to seeds of 
slow growth. Plat 
seeds are best put 
in edgeways, being 
sometimes liable to 
rot when sown flat. 
As the seedlings of 
the slender-growing 
kinds appear above 
ground, care must be 
taken that they are 
not washed down 
and lost when water 
is applied. 
To-a’ard the middle 
or end of May, many of the seedlings will 
be ready for transferring to the borders or 
beds they are intended to decorate ; but pre¬ 
vious to this exposure, it will be necessary 
to prepare them for the removal by admit¬ 
ting air to the frame, both day and night; 
or, what is better, by placing them in a sepa¬ 
rate frame, in which they may be gradually 
hardened off — at first by keeping the lights 
down dm’ing the day only in favorable 
weather for five or six days, after that at 
night also, proceeding carefully while the 
nights are cold. Many of the half-hardy 
and tender annuals will succeed well if 
planted in the open ground the last of May, 
and treated the same way as hardy annuals. 
Plos. 
