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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  7,  1901. 
district.  Its  flowers  are  occasionally  purple,  both  when  wild  and 
cultivated.  But  the  yellow-spurred  Violet,  or  V.  flavicomis,  did 
grow  at  Mitcham  in  Surrey,  also  elsewhere  near  London,  presumably 
a  variety  of  the  familiar  Dog  Violet,  its  distinction  being  its  short 
yellow  spur,  and  the  rather  deeper  blue  of  the  petals.  When 
brought  into  gardens  this  Violet  tabes  after  awhile  a  shrubby  form, 
living  on  unchanged  for  many  years  ;  it  flowers  rather  late  compared 
with  most  of  the  family.  History  does  not  disclose  the  name  of  the 
person  who  discovered  the  capabilities  of  the  annual  V.  tricolor,  the 
Corn  Pansy,  Heartsease,  Herb  Trinity,  and  other  popular  names. 
Long  ago,  however,  it  came  from  cornfields  and  pastures  to  a  place  in 
garden  borders,  where  numerous  varieties  were  developed,  but 
certainly  only  a  part  of  our  Pansies  are  descendants  of  the  wild  species. 
About  many  of  its  haunts  we  find  the  flowers  are  white  and  yellow 
merely,  lacking  the  third  colour. 
The  ancients  did  not  have  the  Carnation  as  a  garden  plant,  it 
is  believed,  so  much  the  worse  for  them ;  but  it  was,  more  centuries 
back  than  we  can  tell,  grown  in  many  parts  of  the  Continent.  Indeed, 
the  older  botanists  called  the  genus  Dianthus,  meaning  “  gift  of  God,” 
a  testimony  to  the  estimation  in  which  the  plants  were  held.  Thomas 
Hogg,  who  in  the  time  of  George  III.  kept  an  academy  at  Paddington, 
and  who  was  also  a  flower  fancier,  published  a  little  treatise  in  1812 
upon  the  Carnation,  Pink,  Auricula,  and  other  favourites.  Therein  he 
remarks  that,  next  to  the  queen  of  flowers,  the  Carnation  and  Tulip 
might  be  considered  rivals  tor  the  second  place.  But  he  thinks  the 
Carnation  has  the  advantage  in  possessing  a  rich  perfume,  and 
continuing  to  flower  for  the  longer  time.  Some  confusion  of  names 
has  occurred  amoDgst  this  tribe,  as  was  likely  enough  to  happen.  It 
is  generally  admitted  that  the  Carnations,  the  Picotees,  and  Clove 
Pinks  are  all  descended  from  the  Castle  Pink  (D.  caryophyllus), 
which  adorns  with  its  variegated  flowers  old  walls  and  castles  in 
ruins.  Some  who  climbed  to  obtain  this  plant,  no  doubt,  took  it  by 
the  roots,  and  found  it  would  grow  well  in  loamy  soil  mixed  with 
sand,  and  could  be  easily  increased  by  layers  or  cuttings.  But  the 
Carnation  appears  to  have  become  a  recognised  garden  flower,  through 
seeds  or  cuttings  transmitted  from  the  Continent.  Parkinson  reckoned 
that  he  had  just  upon  fifty  sorts  in  1623  ;  these  he  divided  into 
Carnations  and  Gillyflowers.  The  latter  appellation  has  been  much 
debated  as  to  origin  ;  endeavours  have  been  made  to  prove  it  only 
refers  to  the  month  of  July,  but  it  seems  to  be  in  its  first  half  a 
corruption  of  a  French  or  Italian  word,  describing  the  aromatic 
fragrance  of  the  blossoms. 
Some  years  ago  now,  people  were  seeking  in  Kent  and  other 
counties  a  variety  of  the  Castle  Piok  which  Hudson  called  D.  arenarius ; 
familiarly  it  was  the  Pheasant’s  Eye,  its  white  flowers  having  a 
purplish  circle  round  the  mouth.  Eventually  this  became  the  parent 
of  many  double  kinds.  A  few  cottage  gardens  about  Kentish  suburbs 
used  to  show  the  Deptford  Pink,  D.  Armeria.  which  seems  to  have 
gone  not  only  from  Deptford,  but  from  Charlton  and  Eltham,  which 
also  yielded  this  annual.  Its  smallish  pink  and  white  flowers  have  no 
smell.  The  curious  Proliferous  Pink  has  not  been  attractive  enough 
to  cultivate.  But  the  London  gardeners  did  find  along  gravelly  slopes 
beside  their  river  the  somewhat  rare  D.  deltoides,  with  grassy  tufts 
and  little  stems  bearing  three  or  four  scentless  but  pretty  flowers  of 
pink  hue,  occasionally  white.  Ordinary  garden  soil  suits  the  plant, 
which  is  ornamental  on  rockwork  ;  one  of  its  varieties  has  glaucous 
leaves.  Growing  wild,  the  Cheddar  Pink  (D.  caesius)  is  very  glaucous  ; 
its  rosy,  fragrant  blossoms  open  early  in  summer  ;  local  here,  it  is  noL 
rare  on  the  Continent,  but  seems  to  have  been  first  brought  to  London 
from  Somersetshire.  Our  garden  Pinks  are  mostly  traceable  io 
D.  plumarius,  which  is  not  British,  but,  like  our  Castle  Pink,  it  thrives 
when  wild  on  old  walls. 
Amongst  the  bulbs  which  are  now  freely  planted  about  our  parks 
and  public  gardens  the  common  Snowdrop  has  a  notable  place,  and  it 
delights  the  Londoners  to  see  its  heads  appearing  amid  the  grass 
while  the  new  year  is  yet  young,  giving  early  intimation  that  winter 
is  going.  Surely  a  British  species;  why  should  it  not  be?  yet  some 
have  been  puzzled  because  old  herbalists  speak  of  it  as  a  garden  plant. 
Gerard  grew  Snowdrops  in  Holborn,  and  had  the  double  variety,  also 
a  broad-leaved  one  from  Constantinople.  When  you  find  the  Snow¬ 
drop  spreading  over  large  spaces  in  old  woods,  or  growing  freely  along 
the  banks  of  rivers,  you  can  hardly  think  it  has  “  escaped  from  culti¬ 
vation,”  as  is  asserted.  It  is,  doubtless,  a  plant  that  will  spread  itself 
freely  when  it  has  opportunity.  On  the  road  from  Singlewell  to 
Cobham,  Kent,  there  is  a  paddock,  opposite  a  mansion  called  the 
Owletts,  which  displays  a  profusion  of  Snowdrops  in  February  or 
March.  These  grow  in  company  with  numerous  Winter  Aconites,  the 
yellow  and  green  of  these  making  a  pretty  contrast  to  the  white 
blossoms.  This  is  a  foreign  species,  and  wan  evidently  planted,  also 
I  suppose,  the  Snowdrop,  obtained  probably  from  one  of  the  adjacent 
woodland  dells,  where  patches  appear  to  be  wild.  Various  are  the 
pleasant  or  sentimental  memories  linked  to  this  flower;  but  it  is 
necessary  to  remind  people  that  the  bulb  has  poisonous  qualities,  and 
that  it  is  not  advisable  to  put  a  stalk  into  the  mouth. 
The  Snowflake  was  very  common  in  suburban  gardens  south  and 
east  of  London  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  but  we  seldom  see  it  now. 
Nearly  akin  to  the  Snowdrop,  it  is  distinguished  from  it  by  the 
uniformity  of  the  petals,  which  show  a  green  spot  near  the  tip,  both 
inside  and  outside ;  also  the  time  of  flowering  is  usually  May. 
Formerly  it  grew  wild  in  several  places  on  the  Isle  of  Dogs,  and 
along  the  banks  of  the  Thames  between  Greenwich  and  Woolwich. 
Its  disappearance  is  not  surprising  ;  it  is  still  found  about  some  damp 
meadows,  north  and  south.  Here  I  may  mention  a  very  different 
looking  plant,  but  of  the  same  natural  order,  which  Loudon  states  was 
sometimes  grown  in  gardens  ;  it  is  easily  propagated  by  seed.  But  I 
have  never  seen  it  in  any  except  a  botanic  one.  This  is  the  Herb 
Paris,  or  True  Love  (P.  quadrifolia),  very  distinct,  from  its  whorl  of 
four  leaves,  supposed  to  represent  a  “  lover’s  knot,”  occasionally  there 
are  five  or  six;  an  upright  stalk  rises  with  a  single  green  flower, 
followed  by  a  purplish  berry,  said  to  be  noxious.  Epping  Forest,  and 
Ghislehurst,  Kent,  were  localities  yielding  it,  which  may  have  been 
visited  by  some  Londoners  who  grew  it  because  of  the  plants 
singularity. 
Probably  we  are  right  in  asserting  that  of  all  the  spring  bulbs, 
taking  gardens  large  and  small  into  our  reckoning,  the  Crocus  is  the 
commonest.  Friends  have  asked  whether  we  can  boast  of  a  native 
Crocus,  but  this  is  just  one  of  those  points  that  are  hard  to  settle. 
One  species  familiar  to  us,  C.  vernus,  as  parent  of  many  varieties,  came 
from  the  mountains  of  Europe,  and  the  yellow  C.  luteus  is  also  a 
foreigner,  perhaps  from  the  Levant.  Certainly  the  Saffron  Crocus  is 
not  our  own,  though  its  native  country  is  doub  ful.  We  have  grown 
fields  of  it,  and  given  its  name  to  an  English  town,  and  a  London 
locality,  by  no  means  charming  now  ;  for  the  evidence  is  conclusive 
that  Saffron  was  grown  on  Saffron  Hill,  near  Holborn,  though  we 
wonder  rather  if  it  succeeded  on  the  cold  London  clay.  This  is  an 
autumn  flowering  species,  and  so  is  C.  nudiflorus,  which  friends  say 
they  have  seen  about  Warwickshire,  covering  meadows  with  its  lilac 
blossom,  even  up  to  October.  Frequently  the  leaves  do  not  appear 
till  December  ;  the  flower  "has  a  long  corolla,  and  is  slightly  scented. 
Sir  J.  E.  Smith  was  convinced  that  it  is  a  British  species,  and  he 
thought  from  observation  of  C.  vernus  about  the  Midlands,  that  it, 
too,  is  probably  a  native.  But  C.  nudiflorus  is  a  good  plant  for 
borders  and  rockeries,  the  leaves  look  pleasant  in  spring,  though  the 
flowers  are  late.  The  net-rooted,  or  Cloth  of  Gold  Crocus  (C.  reticu- 
latus),  which  shows  its  golden  flowers  early  in  March,  is  also  claimed 
as  British,  it  is  a  fitting  ornament  for  sunny  slopes. — J.  R.  S.  C. 
Chrysanthemum  Rust. — A  bulletin  on  the  subject  of  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  rust,  prepared  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Arthur,  has  just  been  issued  by 
the  Purdue  Universitv  Indiana  Agricultural  •  Experiment  Station.  It 
says  that  care  to  keep  out  the  disease  and  hand-pickiDg,  with  total 
destruction  of  badly  diseased  plants  when  it  does  appear,  should  be 
effective  in  wholly  evading  the  disease  or  in  eradicating  it  within  a 
year  or  two.  Spraying  all  plants  in  a  house  with  Bordeaux  mixture  or 
sulphide  of  potassium  will  doubtless  assist  in  keeping  the  disease 
in  check. 
