Culture
Easily grown in average, evenly moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Plants require lots of sun for good flowers, but prefer cool summer temperatures. Plants generally perform best in organically rich, gritty loams in neutral to slightly alkaline soils. Good drainage is essential, but incorporating leaf mold and other organic material into the soil helps retain some moisture which is often needed in hot summer climates. Deadhead spent flowers to encourage additional bloom. Consider shearing plants back after main flush of bloom in order to tidy the planting and to promote additional bloom in late summer or early fall.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Perennial dianthus, commonly called carnations or pinks, are loosely-tufted, herbaceous perennials that features fragrant, often double flowers on stiff stems clad with narrow, linear, gray-green leaves. Most hybrid carnations are crosses between three species: D. caryophyllus, D. gratianopolitanus, and D. plumarius. There are thousands of carnation cultivars and hybrids which have been developed over time for use in both outdoor gardens or under glass for the cut flower industry. Extensive breeding has produced cultivars in almost every shade of pink, purple, red, orange, yellow, and white, and ranging in size from 6” tall up to long-stemmed plants rising to as much as 4’ tall.
Large-flowered carnations today are divided for organizational purposes into two different groupings: (1) border carnations (fragrant double flowers on stems rising to 16” tall) for use in outdoor gardens and (2) florist’s carnations (fragrant double flowers on stems rising to 3-4’ tall) primarily grown in greenhouses for supplying the florist trade.
Genus name comes from the Greek words dios meaning divine and anthos meaning flower.
The common name of pink for plants in the genus Dianthus is in probable reference to the fringed flower petal margins (they appear to have been cut with pinking shears) and not to flower color.
‘Dad’s Favourite’ or ‘Dad’s Favorite’ is an old fashioned pink that was first cultivated in the 1800s. It is often listed and sold as a cultivar of Dianthus plumarius, which is undoubtedly a predominant parent. This is a robust cultivar that produces a loose, compact mat of gray-green, grass-like foliage. Fringed double white flowers with red petal edges and red centers bloom on compact stems typically rising to 10-12” tall in late spring to early summer. Flowers are spicily aromatic. Many of the plants in the genus Dianthus are commonly called pinks in reference to fringed flower petals that look as if they had been cut with pinking shears.
Problems
Crown rot may attack plants grown in moist to wet, poorly drained soils.
Uses
Rock gardens, border fronts, cottage gardens or containers.