GARDENING
Dianthus contains approximately 300 species of annual, biennial and perennial plants valued for their attractive flowers
Pink is an easy colour to use in perennial borders and rock gardens and the genus Dianthus provides for plenty of pinks.
Flowers may be single, semi-double or double; single forms have five petals. The petals have fringed edges and the flowers often have a contrasting “eye” in the centre. Most pinks bloom in summer.
The genus contains approximately 300 species of annual, biennial and perennial plants valued for their attractive flowers with a fragrance that often has a hint of cloves. Plants usually have basal tufts of grass-like foliage.
The flowers may be single with five petals, or double. The petals have fringed edges that appear “pinked” as if trimmed with pinking shears, hence the common name (and by extension, the origin of the name for the colour pink).
The Genus name is derived from the Greek words, Dios meaning `of Zeus' and anthos meaning `flower', hence `flower of Zeus'.
Dianthus grow best in well drained, evenly moist soils that are well supplied with lime (i.e. not acidic — not a problem with most prairie soils). Excellent drainage is especially important during the dormant season. Mulch helps to keep the soil moist and suppress weed seedlings, but avoid mulching the crowns as this may lead to crown rot.
Fertilize in early spring with a balanced fertilizer or with alfalfa pellets, blood meal, bone meal or composted manure. Shear the plants after blooming to keep them looking neater, except where you want to encourage self-seeding.
Some varieties are easily grown from seed and will self-seed if the seeds are allowed to mature. Many hybrids and named varieties do not come true from seed and need to be increased by divisions, cuttings or layering.
Maiden pinks (Dianthus deltoides) is low growing, forming mats of dark green foliage tinged with red or purple. It blooms in early summer with a profusion of rosepink to purple flowers. Triangular shaped markings at the base of the petals give rise to the name deltoides, meaning triangular. Although it does not always survive the winter, it is easy to start from seed and will self-seed if the seeds are allowed to mature on the plants. It is an attractive plant, 10 to 20 cm in height.
`Arctic Fire' has white flowers with a red eye.
`Flashing Light' flowers are ruby red with a bright carmine red centre.
`Shrimp' has salmon pink flowers.
`Zing Rose' blooms throughout the summer with relatively large, deep rose-red flowers.
Cheddar pinks (D. gratianopolitanus) forms a dense matted clump of blue-green, grass-like evergreen foliage. The common name refers to its native habitat in the Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, England. Fragrant 2.5-cm rosepink flowers are produced singly or in pairs on stems that are from 15 to 30 cm long.
`Bath's Pink' has soft pink flowers with deeply fringed petals.
`Firewitch' produces a profusion of magenta flowers.
`Frosty Fire' has bright red 2.5cm flowers.
`Spotty' has cherry red flowers with prominent white spots from late spring to early summer.
`Tiny Rubies' is smaller in all aspects than the species. It bears bright pink one-centimetre flowers on five-to-10-cm stems for most of the summer.
Cottage pinks (D. plumarius) form dense mounds of linear, bluegreen leaves. Fragrant pink 2.5-cm single or double flowers are produced in clusters of three to five on stems that are 30 to 60 cm tall.
`Sweetness' is a seed grown variety that blooms its first year. Flowers vary from white to deep rose with red eyes and are very fragrant. It is very compact to 15 cm tall.
`Pink Princess' has light pink, semi-double flowers throughout the summer. It was developed in Cheyenne, Wyoming and has been grown in prairie gardens since the 1960s.
Sara Williams is the author of Gardening Naturally with Hugh Skinner, Creating the Prairie Xeriscape, and with Bob Bors, Growing Fruit in Northern Gardens. She gives workshops on a wide range of gardening topics throughout the prairies.
This column is provided courtesy of the Saskatchewan Perennial Society (SPS; saskperennial@hotmail.com). Check our website (saskperennial.ca) or Facebook page ( facebook.com/ saskperennial). All Saskatchewan Perennial Society events are on hold until further notice.