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CATALOGUES AT TEN O'CLOCK By. Morrison Nicholson 2000

During my research into Perpetual Flowering Carnations, I kept finding a name recurring time after time; bred by A. Baratta. The harder I looked the more I found his name. I then discovered that the blooms I most admired were all bred by this legend in his own lifetime.
Agostino Baratta is to Carnations what Luciano Pavarotti is to singing “King of the high C’s”.
While on holiday on the Italian Riviera, my wife and I arranged a visit to meet the great man. We had corresponded previously and his daughter, Grazia rang me from San Remo to make final arrangements.
How would me meet? How would we know each other? So, I thought that as I had an old catalogue sent to me sometime before that, if we could meet outside some notable place then, if whoever met us had a current catalogue, we would soon meet up and so it was, at 10’ o clock outside the Villa Nobel, two figures approached each other – catalogues extended.
Gianfranco (son-in-law) took us by car to the new plant multiplication unit on the hillside. As some of you will know the whole coastline is made up of large bays mainly facing south and sloping down to the Mediterranean Sea, with huge areas of glass bigger than some villages. Laboratories, offices and cold rooms to drive into and carnation cuttings by the million. It was here that we met the great man himself, busy as he was overseeing a consignment of cuttings he promptly stopped work, welcomed us warmly and then made us a cup of coffee.
The weather was hot, inside the glasshouses it was even hotter, (I will never worry about my carnations again in summer).
Water is, of course, needed in copious supply and as Signor Baratta was a naval engineer he had used his engineering skills along with his considerable abilities to invent his own travelling spray units which keep the cuttings bathed in cool water all the time.
The buildings are all steam sterilised and kept in pristine condition ready for fresh stock.
I must pay tribute to the family for their most generous hospitality, help with endless questions and advice freely given.
Signor Barattahas has produced over 60 cultivars of Perpetual Flowering carnations and many more were as yet unnamed, as well as many new Spray Carnations which we see in the shops today.
Long may this genius continue to supply the world with blooms of such perfection.