Hardy Border Carnations 1945 WM. & Sidney Smith Catalogue

Select list of Hardy Boarder Carnations

WM. & Sidney Smith, F.R.H.S., Barton Segrave, Kettering, Northants.

1945

Self Colour Varieties

Artists Model.Vermillion red, a fine variety for exhibition.

Afterglow.Golden apricot. A strong variety for border work.

Belle of Bookham.Unique colour, best described as rose-brule.

Bonnie Ann. A delicately formed flower of rose pink. Stiff stems.

Bookham Charm. A good soft pink. Excellent grower and good stems.

Bookham Crimson. One of the best crimsons. Large flower and good stems.

Bookham Gleam. Finest scarlet flower, glowing colour and very large.

Bookham Sunshine. A bright yellow self. Distinct, good foliage and stems.

Countess Lonsdale. Rich velvety crimson of wonderful texture.

Duchess of Wellington. A lovely shade of soft heliotrope.

Douglas Tyldesly. A fine orange self. Good form and robust growth.

Edenside Pink. A beautiful soft rose pink, recommended for exhibition.

Edenside White. A pure and lovely white of perfect form.

Elizabeth Shiffner. A golden orange self. One of the best.

Elliot Douglas. A beautiful clear flower of slate grey colour.

Ettrickdale. A clear yellow of good size and form.

Exquisite. Bright rose pink. Perfect form and large size.

Fortrose. Soft rose pink, fine upstanding variety, dwarf foliage.

Flambeau. A new colour of wonderful Lincoln red. Large flowers.

Golden Dustman. Nice flowers of true apricot shade.

Gordon Douglas. Glowing crimson self. One of the earliest blooms.

Grey Dawn. A wonderful shade of heliotrope grey. Large flowers.
Loch Nagar. Rich clear crimson. Unequalled for exhibition.
Margaret. A fine deep crimson of finest border habit.
Misty Morning. A soft grey lavender of fine substance and good form.
Mrs. A. T. Kemble.
Mrs. W. Thorburn.
Oakfield Mauve.
Peter.
Queen Mab. Deep old rose flowers on stiff wire-like stems.
Raymond Howe.
Royal Scot.
Sea Foam. A pure white of perfect border habit.
Stormy Petrel.
S. M. Kingsford.
Sunbeam.
Sunset Glow.
Teviotdale.
THorncliffe.
W. B. Cranfield.
White Ensign. A very large pure white self. Exceptionally stiff stems.

Fancy Varieties

Aston Water. Pale soft pink, striped and flaked deep rose. Charming
Alice Forbes. Large well formed, white ground, evenly stripped rosy-mauve.
Autumn Tints. Russet orange at base of petals, edged and overlaid violet old rose. A fascinating variety.
Betty Thain. Bright yellow ground boldly marked rose.
Ben Screel. Heliotrope with base of petals salmon. Rather a rare colour.
Bookham Beau. Pure white ground, heavily barred and ticked scarlet.
Bookham Gem. Dazzling white ground, edged and pencilled soft silvery grey.
Bookham Lass. White ground, lightly barred delicate Tyrian rose.
Borderer. Buff apricot ground, marked and suffused bright rose pink.
Bookham Star. White ground, edged and marked rosy purple.
Butterfly. Deep silver grey, flaked with rich ermine, large flowers.
Catherine Glover. Very rich yellow ground, heavily barred and edged scarlet.
Columbine. Large white ground, evenly and charmingly marked cerise-pink.
Dainty.
David Douglas.
Delia.
Dr. Archie Cameron.
Desert Song. Base of petal salmon apricot, shading to lavender grey.
Douglas Fancy.
Ebro.
Edenside Fairy.
Facey Romford.
Fair Ellen.
Flora McIvor.
Florence Grisby.
Fred Ransome.
Glee Maiden.
Gondolier.
Graham Lowe.
Hadrian.
Happiness. Yellow ground margined scarlet cerise, of glowing radiance.
Hotspur.
Ivan Lowe.
Jean Armour.
Jeannie Deans.
John Mcfarlane.
Juna.
Ladas.
Lady Shackleton.
Lettuce. Soft apricot ground fancy, nicely suffused pink. Delicate colours.
Lucy Betram.
Maidens Blush. Pure white, heavily marked soft rose-pink.
Margaret Douglas. Deep yellow ground, striped rich crimson.
Mary Carmichael.
Mrs. E. Charrington.
Mrs. G. D. Murray.
May Morning. White ground,lightly and evenly ticked pale pink.
Mary Stuart. Lovely straw coloured fancy suffused rose-pink.
Midlothian.
Model.
My Fancy.
Ormond.
Paladin.
Persimmons. Bright sulphur, edged and barred with rich carmine-violet.
Prospero.
Quaker Maid.
Queen of Scots.
Rameses. Remarkable colour of rich apricot tending to scarlet with shades of purple and lavender.
Rene Dowling.
Robin Hood.
Rosemary.
Saladin.
Sea Eagle.
Sea Swallow.
Spangle.
Sweet Anne Page.
The Baron.
The Moor.
Unique.
Veld fire.
W. H. Brooks.
Winifred Knapton.
Zebra. Curiously marked maize yellow ground, striped crimson maroon.
Zephyr. A lovely buff ground fancy, heavily suffused rosy-pink. Distinct colouring.

Clove Scented Varieties

Aisle Clove. A pure white ground heavily marked with ox-blood crimson.
Arctic Clove.
Bookham Fragrance.
Bookham Perfume.
Camrose Clove.
Cardinal Clove.
Chaste Clove.
Edith Mustow.
Elizabeth Malster.
Enchantress Clove. Pale apple blossom pink. Very fragrant, good grower.
Glamorous Clove. A lovely carmine lake shade. Perfect flowers.
Imperial Clove.
King of Cloves.
Lavender Clove. Large flower of grey lavender shade. Strong scent.
Lilac Clove.
Majestic Clove.
Marvel Clove.
Merlin Clove.
Mrs. A. Brotherstoni. White ground, suffused and spotted crimson-purple.
My Clove.
Oakfield Clove.
Perfect Clove.
Redbraes Clove.A lovely bright-red, of large size and good shape.
Roslin Clove.
Royal Clove.
Salmon Clove.
Silver King. Silver grey, slightly flaked maroon and crimson. Beautiful foliage and the strongest stems. Heavily clove scented.
Surrey Clove.
Tyrian Clove. A fine purple self. Good habit and strong scent.
Violet Clove. Bright violet carmine, an old favourite.

New and Recent Varieties

Bookham Ace. Pure white ground, marked brilliant Tyrian purple. A flower of great beauty and of the best form and habit.
Cameo Thain. One of the best recent introductions, pure white ground profusely marked and ticked lavender, compact grower, stif stems.
Clove of Tyre.
Eborian. A delightful flower, chocolate, marked scarlet and maroon. One of the largest blooms.
Edenside Glory.
Fair Maiden.
Fascination.
Guisachan.
Harriet Harrow.
Highland Lass.
Inez Blair.
Jean Kennedy.
Jeannie Thain. Yellow ground, evenly marked rosy lavender and lightly flecked rose.
Kathleen  Davies.
Leslie Rennison.
Liet. Douglas.
Limpsfield White.
Muriel Hawtin.
Robin Thain.
Rosy Morning.
Sister Teresa.

Hardy Border Carnations - History and Classification

Descended directly from the species Dianthus Caryophyllua, border carnations are the only truly hardy carnation for growing in the open garden.

Border carnations have been known to survive winters more extreme than those in Britain.

Understood to have been introduced into England from the continent around four - five centuries ago, the flowers were semi-doubles according to some illustrations.

Successive breeding developed the exhibition blooms we see today, with the closing days of the 19th century being the borders heyday when they were bred almost entirely for showing. The most popular borders at this time being Bizarres, Flakes and Picots.

At this time all the flowers had a white ground. The Flakes had one contrasting colour and the Bizarres had flakes of two contrasting colours alternating upon the pure white ground.

Today border carnations are divided into Selfs, Fancies and Picots.

Selfs are one clear colour, free from any shading or marking. Older articles describe the usual colours as white, scarlet, crimson, yellow, apricot, pink, heliotrope grey, purple and old rose.

The British National Carnation Society today lists the colours of Selfs as pink, salmon, rose, cerise, scarlet, crimson, white, cream, mauve, purple, lavender, yellow, apricot, orange and any other.

Fancies are divided into white group fancies, yellow ground fancies and any other colour ground fancies.

White and Yellow ground fancies have stripes, flakes or ticks of a contrasting colour or colours. The stripes are usually of crimson, scarlet, pink or violet. Sometimes the contrasting colours are shading or flushing which is more prevalent with the apricot and yellow varieties.

Fancies of a ground colour other than white or yellow usually have contrasting stripes, flakes or ticks of scarlet, crimson, pink or purple, on a ground of heliotrope-grey, pale pink or light purple.

Picotees are clear white or yellow and marked on the edge of the petal only with a narrow margin of a contrasting colour.

The current list (2017) of Border Carnation classifications published by the British National Carnation Society are:

Self - Pink, Salmon, Rose, Cerise

Bookham Peach

Chesswood Laura Chow

Spinfield Christine Anne

Eileen Neal

Chesswood Margaret Alison

Mary Conlon

Mystic Sunset

Pink Nuffield

Spinfield Party Dress

Welton Pink

Self - Scarlet, Crimson 

Alfriston

Braeside Crimson

Countess of Lonsdale

Crimson Comet

Flanders

Grace's Scarlet Clove

Kathleen Hitchcock

Moor Simply Red

Richard Pollackl

Royal Mail

Scarlet Fragrance

Show time

Spinfield Crimson

Spinfield Leslie's Scarlet

Welton Red

Self - White, Cream

Bofield Antonietta

Bookham Spice

Edenside White

Eudoxia

John Thurstan

Nichola Ann

Spinfield Snowflake

Urpeth Diane Hammerton

Welton White

White Champagne

Whitesmith

Self - Any Other Ground 

Belle of Bookham

Elizabeth Ruby

Grey Dove

Maise Neal

Spinfield Grey

Self - Mauve, Purple, Lavender

Mystic Mel

Pennine Purple

Vintage Special

Billie Boy

Self - Yellow, Apricot, Orange

Chesswood Lidgett Yellow

Clunie

Golden Cross

Lemon Dip

Lustre

Pennine Reflection

Robert Douglas

Sunray

White Ground Fancy

Alfred Galbally

Alice Forbes Improved

Annie Conlon

Carnival

Chesswood Dorothy Cottam

Chesswood Phil Dalby

Chesswood Sairah Nisa

Chesswood Wycoller

Egret

Elizabeth Nelson

Emjay

Forest Princess

Graham's Fancy

Harkell Special

Irene Della Torre

Isobel Kennedy

Jean Knight

Jill Ann

Kinnaird

Margaret Stewart

Urpeth Carol Anne

Robert Smith

Merlin Clove

Rudheath Ruby

Yellow Ground Fancy

Andrew Morton

Baron Mystic

Grangeburn

John Wood

Ken Stubbs

Mystic Dawn

Peter Gould

Show Girl

Spinfield Joy

Yellow Alice Forbes

Any Other Ground Fancy

A. A. Saunders

Avis

Bofield Claire

Border Raider

Braeside Boy

Butterfly

Fireglow

Forest Glow

Forest Sprite

Kathleen Sharp

Leslie Rennison

Lord Nuffield

Mike Briggs

Peter Wood

Sandra Neal

White Ground Picotee

Ann S Moore

Chesswood Barbara Arif

Eva Humphries

Lucy Hogg

Mary Robertson

Moor Maurice Richardson

Natalie Saunders

Pennine Charisma

Pennine Dazzler

Pennine Una

Rudheath Pixie

Eileen Galbally

Yellow Ground Picotee

Bens Croft

Bofield Emily

Hannah Louise

Pennine Dancer

Pennine Legend

Pennine Treasure

Any Other Ground Picotee

Jane Coffey

Margaret Bingham

Pennine Alazar

Heavily Scented

Graces Scarlet Clove

Merlin Clove

Bookhan Spice

Caroline Clove

Ailsa Clove

Leslie Rennison

Vintage Special

www.britishnationalcarnationsociety.co.uk

Pinks - A potted history

Dianthus Pulmarius is the predominant parent of the pink. It has sweetly-scented fringed-petaled flowers that range from pink to white-with-a-hint-of-pink. 

Modern pinks, such as D. Herbetii and D. Allwoodii groups, have other blood in them, showing traces of perpetual border carnation ancestry.

The rarest of the native British Dianthus is the annual Deptford Pink, Dianthus Armeria. Once widespread around the Cheddar Gorge, the strongly-perfumed flowers of Dianthus Gratianopolitanus (previously known as Dianthus Caesius)were so popular with nineteenth-century gardeners that it was collected to near extinction. The most commonly-grown of the native species,  Dianthus Deltoides, now only found in part of East Anglia, has creeping-dark green stems and small crimson-red flowers. 

Some early authorities including John Claudious Loudon (1784-1843) considered the pink to have been bred from various historical parents including Dianthus Carsius and varieties of carnation rather than just being an improved cultivar of Dianthus Pulmarius.

Thomas Mawe in Every Man his own Gardener (1792) lists eleven pinks: Dobson, Deptford, Cob White, Cob Red, White Shock, Damask, Mountain, Matter, Old Man's Head, Painted Ladyand Clove Pink.

Older pinks may be dived into two classes:

1. Flowers of the "Delmonden Fairy" type, with stout, close and upright foliage with thicker flower stems and finer flowers resembling a little border carnations, possibly from an ancient natural cross and,

2. Those with small, dense foliage matted on the ground. Flowers being on thin erect, short stems like the old Pheasant Eye.

Pheasant-Eyed Pinks were referenced in the early 18th Century by writers on gardening but date back to the 17th Century and beyond. The centre of the flower is deep red and the fringed white petals have a red stain to their tips. The perfume is softer than other pinks.

Allwoods Heritage Garden Pinks - Pheasant Eye (Pre 1600's)

Plain Pinks and Laced Pinks were developed by muslin weavers from Paisley. Known as Scotch Pinks because of the Paisley cultivation, this name became attached to those varieties without lacing, "black and white". Dianthus Dad’s Favourite is thought to be one of the few surviving Paisley Pinks with white petals edged with a broad ruby-red line. 

Laced Pinks with  white ground were divided into dark-laced and fine-laced according to the depth of colour in their markings.

Rose Pinks are those where the ground colour was rose and the petals marked and laced with a darker shade.

Anne Boleyn is a Rose Pink and featured in the Florists' Magazine, 1835 - 36.

Jane Loudon - Artist's Biography
Dianthus plumarius. Sir Walter Scott, Duke of St. Albans, Anne Boleyn. Pl. 24. Lithograph handcolored, c.1840.

Dianthus Superbus pictured in the top left hand side of the picture below has a stonger, spicier perfume than Dianthus Plumarius with white spidery flowers that John Parkinson, the 17^th-century gardener, described as "comforting the spirits and the senses".

The early 19th Century was the hey day of the pink. In The Flower Garden 91839) M'Intosh, the gardener to the King of the Belgians listed 192 varieties. Thomas Hogg, a nurseryman from Paddington London listed 121 varieties in his catalogue of pinks in 1822. 

Most of the laced or scotch pinks from this period appear to have disappeared apart from Dad's Favourite. A number of the ordinary pinks from this time are still around such as Paddington, a rose-pink seated edged flower zoned with purple, the Earl of Essex, Inchmery, Painted Lady, Dark Eyes Susan and Fimbriata, Sutton Pink and Ledford Pink. 

Few varieties were introduced between 1850 and just after the end of the first world war when Mr. C. H. Herbert started to raising pinks apart from Mrs. Sinkins and Her Majesty. Herbert pinks were developed using a number of old pinks. His outstanding variety is perhaps Bridesmaid.

After the Second World War the Lindabruce Nurseries  crossed Herbert's varieties with Dianthus Allwoodii resulting in the Lancing pinks.

At the same time, Mr. F. R. McQuown in London was using D. Allwoodii and Herbert's pinks together with old laced pinks to raise the London pinks.

Allwoodii pinks were raised by Mr. Montagu. C. Allowed who after the First World War stared crossing  perpetual-flowering carnations with the old fringed pinks, who were used as the seed-bearing parents. The resulting hybrid strain was named Dianthus Allwoodii. Scent was sacrificed for flower production, though Allwood’s best-known plant, Dianthus Doris does have a slight scent.

Dianthus Knappii is the only yellow-flowered dianthus.

Dianthus - A little history

Dianthus caryophyllus was described by Theophrastus as early as 300 b.c. Deriving the genus name Dianthus from the Greek Dios, divine, and anthem, a flower it was a five-petalled single flower of a pinkness-mauve colour and around one inch in diameter.

In Spain the carnation is called Clavel. Calves de Olar is a clove flavouring and it is thought the name Caryophyllus was given because of the similarity of the dianthus' scent to that of commercial cloves, the unopened buds of Caryophyllus.

Henry Lyte who translated the "Herbal" of Rembrandt Dodoens in 1578, was the first English author to use the name carnation.

Dianthus are lovers of sunshine and alkaline soil barring a few exceptions.