perennial > DIANTHUS
IN THIS GUIDE
DIANTHUS GUIDES
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Dianthus , the ‘ Flower of the Gods ’ , was as admired in Ancient Greece as it is in Modern England , and for good reason .
The double , rumple salad days with their fringe or frilly edges are unique , and exhibit colours from palest pink to maroon - black .
D. chinensis
Reputed asideally become for cottage gardens , it is bonnie to ask whether this wonderful genus is not ideally suited foranygarden .
Overview
PreferredMostly Full Sun
ExposureSheltered
Height0.1 – 0.5 M
D. caryophyllus
Spread0.1 – 0.5 M
Bloom TimeMay – October
PreferredMost Fertile Soils
MoistureWell Drained
pHAny
Dianthus is quite a bewitching genus of flowering herbaceous plants : though it encompasses a clean number of species totalling around 380 , much of the ‘ military press ’ and interest circumvent onlythreeof those species – and those three mintage let in untoldthousandsof cultivars.1Fassou , G. , Korotkova , N. , Nersesyan , A. , Koch , M. A. , Dimopoulos , P. , & Borsch , T. ( 2022 , May 23).Taxonomy of Dianthus ( Caryophyllaceae ) – overall phylogenetic relationship and assessment of species diversity based on a first comprehensive checklist of the genus . PhytoKeys ; Pensoft Publishers.https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.196.77940
D. plumarius
These three garden favourites areD. caryophylluscommonly have intercourse as Carnations , D. plumarius , informally called Garden Pinks , andD.barbatus , usually termed Sweet Williams .
The vast majority of cultivars of sake are evergreen perennial .
The ruffly , frilly flowers come in white , lily-livered , pinkish , red , and mauve in a noteworthy ambit of hues from palest pastel to full-bodied and intense .
D. plumarius
Moreover , many cultivar ’ flower are bicoloured , exhibiting feathering , edging , or flecks .
They are cross out by a somewhat strange feature film : the distal end of most varieties ’ petals are fringe , serrate or even toothed .
All carnations have double or semi - double flowers and most garden pinks are duple while a few are single .
D. ‘Zenit’
Another quirky attribute gillyflower and garden garden pink , particularly the latter , have is their olfactory property .
While some are unscented , and others are moderately scented , many exude a thick , sweet aroma redolent of clove tree or cinnamon .
Carnations
Carnations are divide into perpetual flowering or exhibition Dianthus caryophyllus , mete Dianthus caryophyllus , and sight gillyflower .
The former bloom year - rung and are naturalise in glasshouse for exhibiting and floriculture .
The latter are compendious evergreen plant to about 25 cm and often have semi - dual flowers .
delimitation carnations are the ones with which most of us are familiar ; these have a bushy , tumid habit , are 50 cm or more , and have full double bloom .
These plants are also type by the size of it of their blush and by whether there is a single blossom or a nebuliser .
Though all Dianthus cultivars provide excellent cut flower , carnations are much valued by florists as they stay ‘ fresher than a daisy ’ in bouquets and are remarkably long - lasting in vase .
Garden Pinks
Yet between carnations , fresh williams , and garden pinks , it is the last - named that runs out with the popularity prize – garden pinks are British gardener ’ preferred Dianthus .
Like gillyflower , pinks are also part into types , but they descend fromdifferent species .
Besides garden pinks , there are cheddar pinks and China pinks ; the former are cultivar ofD. gratianopolitanus , and the latter ofD. chinensis .
Pinks are named as such because their petals search as if they were cut by a sartor ’s decorative pinking scissors grip which leaves a zigzag - zag border .
Habitat & Growing Conditions
Dianthus species occur in nature in extensive geographical regions and climatical zones .
They are rule in the heat of India and Northern Africa to the northmost reaches of Russia .
They grow in field , forest , steppes , hillsides , and taiga .
The various metal money ’ hardiness varies from Hardiness Zones Sub - H7 to H3 .
about all the popular cultivars are hardy to H6 .
Perpetual flowering carnations are not intrepid being suited only to H2 , which is why they are grow in greenhouses .
The varieties ’ heat tolerance varies too . In ecumenical , various pinks and honeyed Williams are more rut broad than carnations .
D. caryophyllus , a carnation , originates from the Mediterranean region including Italy and Greece .
ThoughD. plumarius , garden pink , is native to Central Europe , it has colonised several region of the United States where it is classified as an incursive mintage .
D. barbatus , sweet William , is from Southern Europe , grow in nature in a rap of land from Spain to Hungary and Romania .
It expose a orientation for hillsides and hilly areas .
Planting Dianthus
The heights , habits , bloom , and color of Dianthus varieties make these evergreens excellent option for all purposes from butt on a walk to the middle rows in a interracial bed .
Dwarf pink which turn to 20 - 30 cm are idealistic for tilt garden and edging .
Pink ‘ Pixie Star ’ and ping ‘ Dainty Dame ’ are excellent examples . Mat - forming cheddar pinks are just as excellent for such purposes .
These types of dwarf evergreens are alsotop choices for groundcover .
Border carnations attain heights from 50 - 75 cm . Though , in universal , they have a shaggy habit , they can be snip for a more columnar form .
If this is done many cultivars will necessitate stake , while some require staking anyway .
They are pure for the midsection of a bottom or even the backside of a narrow-minded bed .
Some miscellany offer the height , riding habit and salient bloom to be set out in pots .
gillyflower ‘ Leon Tautz ’ and carnation ‘ Jean Knight , ’ among a few others , make fantastic specimen plant .
Midway between the two are garden pink with a mound habit and sweet Williams .
With heights falling between 30 - 60 curium , they are swell for the front of bed and borders , and also are very well suited as pot industrial plant and container plant .
Examples include pinkish ‘ Pinball Wizard , ’ pink ‘ Rhian ’s Choice ’ and angelical William ‘ Auricula - Eyed Mixed ’ .
Plant Care & Growing Tips
Considering that the Dianthus genus is quite large and , especially , the fact that a few species have been hard cultivated for centuries , Dianthus plant reply very well to a single set of generalized gardening wind .
A light , clay - free , sandy , gravelly loam amended with peat moss or compost is ideal for these plant . The soil must be very well - enfeeble .
Its pH should be moderately alkaline to more or less alkaline – 8.4 to 7.4 .
Plants may get full sun , or morning sunshine and filter or dappled good afternoon sun .
When transplant , the soil point of each industrial plant should be the same as it was in the tray or pot . well a little too low than a short too high .
As for the spatial arrangement , this will look on the habit and the facing pages of the variety in interrogation .
Some clove pink cultivars call for support as they grow .
post them by enclose the main stem with support cane and tying them around with twine .
for encourage a bushy habit or mound in untried pink , the leader is sometimes bent or pinched , and initial flowering is otherwise impeded until the plant develops a sufficient numeral of side shoot .
Disbudding is a method sometimes used in gillyflower though this is done to primarily determine point flower and not the plant as a whole .
To maximise the size and lineament of pre - selected clove pink bud for blossom , you may opt to disbud others .
“ Most Dianthus will make great cut flowers , just cut them and commit them in a minuscule vase , ” tell Master Horticulturist Peter Lickorish .
Sometimes , you may get hold they start to settle in the water , so I would then cut back off the flower and pot it up to farm on . ”
Common Problems
Dianthus , more often carnations , can be affected by carnation rust , bacterial wilt , and fusarium wilting .
They are also capable to viral infection which cause carnation mottle , carnation etch ring , carnation closed chain spot and other diseases .
These each take specialised treatment .
Sourcing Dianthus
Carnation , garden pink , and sweet William smorgasbord are among the easiest plants to find , with the perennial British best-loved garden garden pink lead the mob .
Some or other varieties are available as pot plant in virtually every nursery and garden nerve centre , while seed packets are evenly easy to find .
In addition , you’re able to get new Dianthus by layering and cutting .
The passably more technical art of layering is usually used with carnations while deal press clipping work well with both carnation and garden pinks .
