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Pinks Day 2006 Report

Wednesday June 14th was Pinks Day at Wisley on the second day of the BNCS June Show. It was without doubt one of the Highlights of the Carnation Year.

A series of lectures and demonstrations were followed by a trip to the Pinks Trials ground with the opportunity for visitors to give their own opinions on the cultivars being assessed.

The day started with a fascinating lecture on “The History of Pinks” by Sue Russell Chairman of the Pinks Committee.

This set the tone for the day. It covered the origins of the cultivated pink from species found in the wild up to the modern day. Explaining the different Dianthus species it dealt with the work of the earliest hybridisers and the crosses they made and highlighted the more recent work of Montague Allwood in the middle of the last century. Of particular interest was the historical role of pinks not only in gardens but also in cooking and other aspects of everyday life. The use of fragrant pinks as a nosegay thought to protect against the plague – although misguided – illustrates the important role of this plant in peoples lives. The post WW2 decline in the popularity of pinks leading to the loss of most commercial growers in the UK was an appropriate introduction to John Whetmans lecture later in the day.

There was a steady stream of visitors during the day to view the BNCS June show and to see the many floral exhibits featuring carnations.

Jim Marshall had his Malmaisons stand and some superb virus free plants were available for sale. I was astounded at the size of blooms on his variety Storm. Clearly mine have the virus. I bought a new plant. John Whetman also had a display of his pinks which added to the spectacle.

After lunch we were treated to a most entertaining and informative practical demonstration on propagating techniques by Jim Linnell, Vic Borrett and Jim Marshall.

These three should have their own comedy gardening show on TV; they are that good. As well as clearly demonstrating taking cuttings from pinks and PF’s they also showed how to layer borders though whether cuttings were as good seemed to be debatable. The advice on potting composts for cuttings was interesting and varied. Jim Marshall spoke passionately about peat free compost. For the amateur the range of views from experts in the field may seem confusing but I think it highlights the fact that these plants are robust. There are different approaches; nothing is right or wrong. An elderly grower told me years ago “Listen very carefully to what the experts tell you – and then carry on doing whatever works best for you!” (The discussion over composts can be continued on the “Forum” pages. Anyone wanting to write an article on the subject can also send it directly to the web editor for inclusion in the “Articles” section.) The demonstration was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

The next lecture was from John Whetman on the modern breeding of Pinks.

He presented a commercial perspective to the day and gave us all an insight into changing public tastes which may well reflect our future membership. He pointed out the decline in UK commercial cut flower production – lost to warmer climates with cheaper labour costs. He also explained that the gardening public increasingly buy on impulse and plants will only sell if in flower. The flowers therefore need to be compact and robust enough to be transported and handled when in flower. (This I am sure is a surprise to some of our members particularly Border growers who expect to buy a young plant to grow for some months which will only ever flower for a few weeks each year!) The market is looking for compact and miniature habit such as their “Star” range, and stunning they are too. On the matter of plant names it was interesting that initially Whetmans named their new pinks with the name Devon included; Devon Cream, Devon Wizard etc., to reflect the fact that they are in Devon and that the British public associate Devon with holidays, cream teas and other pleasant things. However with the expanding international market place this is irrelevant as most of the French and Americans buying pinks have no idea where Devon is. More recently pinks have been named after pop songs such as Lady Madonna and Lilly the Pink and as already mentioned the Star range. One of the difficulties John has is thinking of new names for his pinks he offered £20 of plants to anyone who can come up with the best name for this pink!

He explained the cost of producing a new variety: £100,000 for a glasshouse, two peoples wages; the need to grow 10,000 seedlings to produce one good commercial variety. And then the testing to make sure that each new introduction performs well. All the time there is pressure to introduce something new. That is what the market demands.

John also mentioned Plant Breeders Rights and pointed out that the aim was not to stop the amateur taking the odd cutting for his or her own use but to protect the financial investment in each new cultivar.

Dealing with the practical aspects of hybridising new varieties John explained basic pollination and talked about the uncertainties in the process. For example there was no obvious way of predicting the inheritance of scent (an important feature of the Whetmans range). Highly scented parents could produce offspring without scent and similarly parents without scent could produce highly scented offspring. He pointed out that some varieties produce little or no pollen and that qualities sometimes had to be transmitted from the parents to a different variety. It became very complicated. However judging by Johns results he has certainly mastered the techniques.

It was certainly a most interesting and informative day. I hope something similar will be possible next year.