Pink (flower)

“ Such is their naturalness and air of vivacity that one never tires of them. You enjoy them to-day, and to-morrow they greet you with such a look of welcome, and hold up their pretty faces to you with such a winning grace that you linger longer than yesterday. You cannot tell which to admire the most, the modest bashfulness of that double white which peeps out to you from under the leaves, or the challenging boldness of that single pink, whose laughing eye meets your gaze so roguishly. Double or single, white, pink, magenta or carnation, they have each their beauty, both of flower and leaf. ”

“ There are white varieties of almost every garden flower that blooms between the last frost of spring and winter ice. The snowdrop of course is white and the tiny little single English violet of brief though unsurpassing fragrance; we have white crocuses, white hyacinths, narcissus, lilies-of-the-valley, Iris, white rock phlox, or moss-pink, Madonna and Japan lilies, gladiolus, white campanulas of many species, besides the well-known Canterbury bells, white hollyhocks, larkspurs, sweet Sultan, poppies, phloxes, and white annual as well as hardy chrysanthemums. ”

“ The pink is a favourite garden flower of hardy constitution. It has been in cultivation in England since 1629, and is a great favourite with florists, those varieties being preferred which have the margin of the petals entire, and which are well marked in the centre with bright crimson or dark purple. Its grassy but glaucous foliage is much like that of the carnation, but the whole plant is smaller and more tufted. Pinks require a free loamy soil deeply trenched, and well enriched with cow-dung. They are readily increased by cuttings (pipings) , by layers and by seed. ”

“ Picture twenty-eight young ladies, each dressed to represent a flower—hollyhock, pansy, moss, rose, morning-glory, eucalyptus blossom, pink clover, yellow marguerite, Cherokee rose, pink carnation, forget-me-not, buttercup, pink-and-white fuchsia, lily of the valley, wine-colored peony, white iris, daffodil, and so on. They advance with slowly swaying motion, with wreaths uplifted until they reach the stage, where sit the guests of honor. ”

“ My favorite tussy-mussy, if made of flowers, would be of Wood Violet, Cabbage Rose, and Clove Pink. These are all beautiful flowers, but many of our most delightful fragrances do not come from flowers of gay dress; even these three are not showy flowers; flowers of bold color and growth are not apt to be sweet-scented; and all flower perfumes of great distinction, all that are unique, are from blossoms of modest color and bearing. ”

“ We may say that just as purples in flowers look best, or have a greater degree of expression, when appearing in or with reds, so do the most delicate rose and pink shades appeal most to us when they appear as a tinge or blush on white flowers. Probably the flower that gives the most pleasure on account of its beautiful flesh-tints of different shades is the Gloire de Dîjon rose, so common with us and so universal a favourite. ”

“ It is short and heavy from the ground, not unlike the edible thistle of Japan, with leaves and stalks of flesh colored pink, bleached into a sort of mixture of white, green and rose, with clustered flowers in compact head of exquisite rose and pink. It is a rarely beautiful flower. ”

“ Can words describe the fragrance of the very breath of spring--that delicious commingling of the perfume of arbutus, the odor of pines, and the snow-soaked soil just warming into life? Those who know the flower only as it is sold in the city streets, tied with wet, dirty string into tight bunches, withered and forlorn, can have little idea of the joy of finding the pink, pearly blossoms freshly opened among the withered leaves of oak and chestnut, moss and pine needles in which they nestle close to the cold earth in the leafless, windy northern forest. ”

“ All are exquisitely perfumed; and the husks, if gathered, will retain their sweetness for long months together.
A little further off, I stood before my clumps of pinks. I have a great many sorts, and all are deliciously sweet—the sweetest of all flowers I have heard them called.
In Chaucer’s time it was the fashion, it seems, to talk of the “parwenke of prowesse;” in Sir Philip Sidney’s age, writers spoke of “the pink of courtesy.” We no longer compare a high and noble spirit to a flower. Do we love flowers less? ”

“ Some weeks after the jubilant, alert robins have returned from the South, the Purple Trillium unfurls its unattractive, carrion-scented flower. In the variable colors found in different regions, one can almost trace its evolution from green, white, and red to purple, which, we are told, is the course all flowers must follow to attain to blue. The white and pink forms, however attractive to the eye, are never more agreeable to the nose than the reddish-purple ones. Bees and butterflies, with delicate appreciation of color and fragrance, let the blossom alone, since it secretes no nectar ”

“ There are two varieties red and pink, the one with red flowers having bronzy leaves, while the pink has bright green leaves. Under this clump, in spring, seeming almost like an independent plant, pushes up the large flower stalk. It grows from three to six feet tall and carries no leaves, but at the end develops the head which is one of the most showy things in the flower world. ”

“ The only American kind, an odd plant, all translucent white, beautiful but unnatural, glimmering in the dark heart of the forest like a pallid ghost, mournfully changing to gray and black as it fades. The stem is about six inches tall, springing from a mass of fibrous roots and bearing a single flower, beautiful but scentless, about three-quarters of an inch long, with two to four sepals, five or six petals, and ten or twelve stamens, with pale yellow anthers. Sometimes the whole plant is tinged with pink. ”

“ Pink, pingk, n. a flower of any one of several plants of the genus Dianthus—carnation, &c.: a shade of light-red colour like that of the flower: a scarlet hunting-coat, also the person wearing such: the minnow, from the colour of its abdomen in summer: any type or example of excellence in its kind.—adj. ”

“ From your pale-pink paper you can make the delicately beautiful morning-glory. Have the natural flower with its stem and leaves to copy from, even if the blossom is not the color you want. As with the pink, it is the general form and appearance we strive for in the morning-glory, not the detail.
Fig. 132.—Slip the bag over the head of a lighter.
Make your pink circles with a diameter of about seven inches. It is always better to have your flowers a trifle larger than the natural ones, rather than smaller. ”

“ The pink is raised from seeds, not only to obtain new varieties, but to keep up a race of vigorous growing sorts. The seeds may be sown in March or April in pots in a warm frame, and the young plants may be pricked off in to boxes and sheltered in a cold frame. They should be planted out in the eaily part of the summer in nursery beds, in which, if they have space, they may remain to flower, or the alternate ones may be transplanted to a blooming bed in September or the early part of October ”

“ The leaves are smooth and thickish, bluish-green, with a "bloom," the lower ones with a few irregular, blunt teeth, or with wavy margins, and the flowers, which are the same shape and size as the last, are deep, bright pink, with a magenta line on each lobe and some white hairs on the lower lip. The filaments are purple, with whitish anthers, and the fifth stamen resembles a tiny brush, with yellow bristles on the upper side and pointing into the throat. The whole effect of the graceful flower-cluster is bright, beautiful, and conspicuous, growing among the rocks, on hillsides and in canyons. ”

“ There are a great many wild roses, pink, white, and crimson, but the pink Dog Rose is the commonest. Every one has gathered it in the sunny June days.
You must notice a curious thing about the seed-vessel of this plant. Only the top of it rises in the middle of the stamens. But if you look at the back of the flower, you see a small green swelling at the end of the stalk, and the sepals and petals and the stamens stand in a ring round the top of this swelling. This is the seed-vessel, and in autumn, after the flower is withered, it will grow into a round red berry, which is called a hip. ”

“ That on the green turf suck the honeyed showers,
And purple all the ground with vernal flowers.
Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies,
The tufted crow-toe, and pale jessamine,
The white pink, and the pansy freaked with jet,
The glowing violet,
The musk-rose, and the well-attired woodbine,
With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head,
And every flower that sad embroidery wears; ”

“ When shading a flower select two colours that are distinct in tone but not jarring in their contrast; thus, cream-white used for the outer petals can be finished with pale blue, yellow pink, pure orange, or pale yellow for its centre petals; scarlet red outside petals with black inner petals, bright blue outside petals with lemon yellow or terra-cotta red inside petals, and every one of these colours are allowable when working bunches of flowers scattered over the whole of a five o'clock tea-cloth or fireplace curtains. ”

“ Flower shades of all these plants vary considerably, the purple hues ranging through lavender and pink, while the entire color range in golden tones appears in the lateritia, varying from a golden buff through rich terra cotta red, to orange and almost scarlet. All are practically alike in form. The brilliant color is not due to the true flower but to modified leaves or bracts, three of which enclose the true flowers. ”

“ One of the most experienced among these lady-workers has told me that, of all colour-schemes, the best for lighting up well at night is pink and silver. Pink Roses in silver bowls are lovely, but invisible receptacles, meandering about a table, are pretty too. Sometimes, at the last moment, the particular flower desired will not be procurable—the market has been cleared—and pink Sweet Peas or Pelargoniums must take the place of Roses, purple Stock do duty for Pansies, or Scarlet Geranium for fallen Poppies. It is anxious work. ”

“ What is certain is that the proliferous pink has a considerable share of the [Pg 28] distinctive grace of its family, and that the occasion of first encountering it will live in the flower-lover's memory.
I have named but a few—those personally known to me—of the rarer or more characteristic shingle-flowers; and in so wide a field there is always the chance of new discoveries: hence the unfailing interest, to the botanist, of places which, apart from their flora, are likely to be shunned as wearisome. The shore itself is seldom without visitors ”

“ The flowers are rather pretty, dull pink outside but paler inside, the buds are deeper and more purplish pink, both of dry papery texture. The flowers are over half an inch across, their tubes and buds are six-angled, and they have three stamens with anthers and wings, alternating with three, notched, petal-like stamens, without anthers. In the spring the stem grows rapidly for several weeks and then the flower cluster begins to come out at the tip. ”

“ She is a bright pink-purple flower an inch or more long, with the odor of sweet violets. The sepals and petals rise up and arch over the column, which we may call the heart of the flower, as if shielding it. In Plymouth County, Mass., where the Arethusa seems common, I have heard it called Indian pink.”
249 Purple Fringed Orchises.
Orchis Family (p. 17) . Habenaria fimbriata. Leaves.—Oval or oblong; the upper, few, passing into lance-shaped bracts. Flowers.—Purple, rather large; with a fan-shaped, three-parted lip, its divisions fringed; with a long curving spur; growing in a spike. ”

“ This long, narrow one in front of the house is to be the pink one. I've got pink tulip bulbs in the ground now and there are some pink flowering shrubs—weigelia and flowering almond—already there against the lattice of the veranda. I'm going to work out a list of plants that will keep a pink bed blossoming all summer and we can use it in three places," and she nodded dreamily to her cousins. ”

“ Iris.—The Iris is the orchid of the flower garden; its blossoms are the most rich and varied in colour of hardy plants. For cutting, for vases, table decoration, etc., it is exceedingly useful, as it is very free-flowering, and lasts a long time in water. It thrives in almost any soil, though a sandy one suits it best, and is strikingly effective when planted in clumps. It soon increases if left undisturbed. The English Iris blooms in June and July, bearing large and magnificent flowers ranging in colour from white to deep purple, some being self-colours, while others are prettily marbled. ”

“ Purple, red, pink, and variegated colors are classified as masculine, whereas yellow, white, and blue are feminine. This guides one in arranging flowers of different colors in the same vase, the masculine colors always taking the most important and highest position in the group. The one exception to this rule is white flowers. White flowers of every variety hold the highest rank. ”

“ Perhaps the most beautiful of all of them is the variety known as Lady Penzance—descended from the Austrian Copper Briar and the Eglantine—which has single flowers of the most delicate blend of pink, yellow and orange. One great advantage which these single-flowered briars, as well as most of the June-flowering roses, have over the Hybrid Perpetuals is that they may be left practically unpruned, and so display the naturally graceful habit which is as important a part of the beauty of the Rose as is the flower itself. ”