SINGLE AND DOUBLE FLOWERS.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2380, 18 November 1881, Page 3

SINGLE AND DOUBLE FLOWERS.

A writer in the “ Gardener's Chronicle ” has the following :—Flowers, »s we find them in a state of Nature, are nearly all single, that is, the organs of reproduction are simply so far enclosed by theirooverings of sepals and petals as suffices to protect them through their advancing stages and until fertilisation has taken place. Double flowers, it is needless to say, are usually the outcome of an exuberant condition resulting from cultivation, whereby the plant is fed up to a state of repletion that must find vent somewhere, and in so doing forces the stamens to an unnatural development, which results in their extension so as to increase the number of petals, by which means the flower becomes more or lees double. In the case of some flowers this condition, and seen from the florist’s point of view, is looked upon as an advantage, notably with plants such as the dahlia, hollyhock, ranunculus, and others. The cause of the preference for double flowers is twofold ; first, a full globular or broad circular form comes nearest up to the florist’s standard, as opposed to the more loose, nar-row-petalled but more elegant shape usually met with in flowers in their natural state. Beyond this there is no question that double flowers last longer than single ones, which alone is so much gain, especially in times like the present, when the effect which a flower produces as it is seen on the plant is only half the consideration on which its merits need to be assessed, the length of time it will last when out being now, and likely to continue, of equal importance with that of its appearance when growing. Yet although durability is a very desirable property, and one that, when writing on the subject of flowers for cutting, I have before this urged, still it would be a mistake to attach more importance to it than it deserves, and to lose sight of the fact that single flowers have an elegance about them which double ones are almost always deficient in. This to me was never more apparent than in looking at the double varieties of cineraria that have recently made their appearance — flowers that, so far as being perfectly full and double, are very much in advance of other double ones that have preceded them ; but for all that constitutes simple elegance in form and pleasing contrast in combination of color, they are not by any means equal to the single varieties. Double fuchsias are not nearly so handsome as the single kinds, and except as novelties have never been held in such estimation. The flower, when double loses much of its natural elegance, and in this state what is gained in size of flower is lost by the inability of the plants to produce numbers equal to the single sorts. The superiority of the single varieties of dahlias which have recently been brought under notice for use in arrangements of out flowers, over the double forms of the plant, is most decided. The tuberous rooted begonias, of which such immense numbers have of late years been raised, are now making their appearance in double form ; but few people, I think, will look upon them as improvements on the single kinds—rather the reverse. Even the large massive single varieties of recent date, considered by many more deserving than the productions from seed that preceded them, have attained size at the expense of elegance in form of flower, and decidedly so in the general habit of the plants. With these and a good many other things it is quite possible to get too far in one direction, particularly if those who take the lead in the raising of new varieties are not careful to breed from sorts that possess a graceful habit of growth. In saying this much let mo not be misunderstood —no one is disposed to stand up more stoutly for the florist’s highest standard in such flowers that have hitherto been understood to come legitimately within the good old muster roil of the florist, but there is now the manifest mistake being made of ranging under the florist’s standard and bringing within the florist’s code of proper, ties every flower that is sought to be improved or altered ; indeed sometimes the alteration lacks the improvement. The day for this has gone by, for it there is one thing more than another now apparent it is the perception and appreciation of simple beauty in natural objects, flowers included, by the majority of people who may be said to come fairly within the influence of education. And it would be a wonder if it were otherwise, even so far as regards the lower grades of society, for every town and every village that is large enough to possess a Mechanics’ Institute has its drawing school, and the pupils do not exercise their pencils in delineating pedigree cattle or prize florists’ flowers, but choose subjects which are nearer the state to which nature and ordinary cultivation have brought them.