Darling Dianthus

Dianthus provides one of the most spectacular year round colour displays in your garden. In their traditional colours of pink, purple, red, white, even bi-coloured, these beautiful little flowers are as striking as they are generous.

These compact bedding plants are grown for the classical beauty of their flowers as well as for the magnificent show they offer when planted en masse. With their fragrant blooms they are a must-have in the summer garden. They are so versatile, combining beautifully with many annuals and complementing spring and summer flowering bulbs as well. Dianthus can be used successfully in containers, hanging baskets, window boxes, mixed plantings, cut flower gardens, scented gardens, butterfly gardens and borders. They are also a great addition to a rock garden. In short, if you are looking for months of glorious colour then they are just the thing for you.

Water your Dianthus during dry periods, once or twice per week and add a general purpose fertilizer once a month for added flowering potential. Dead flowers should be removed promptly to promote continued blooming. After the flowers have died, cut the stems down to a few centimetres above ground level. This will spur the plant to push out a second, often showier crop of blooms. This can be done up to four times giving you a year’s worth of colour!

Information Supplied by the Bedding Plant Growers Association. Go to www.lifeisagarden.co.za for more.