Choose dianthus for easy-going colour and scent
Perennial carnations, or Dianthus caryophyllus, are one of my favourite garden plants because they give so much and as very little in return.
I went through a phase of regarding them as rather fuddy-duddy and old maidish but actually, I think they are a fantastic way of bringing reliable scent and colour to borders and containers.
I love their warm, delicious clove-laden fragrance and the way their blooms provide an excellent contrast to the narrow, spikey leaves.
Perennial dianthus come in a wide range of colours but my favourite are those that flower in shades of pink, from the palest baby hue to the dramatically deep tones of ‘Magenta Fizz’.
With regular deadheading, they will bring colour to the garden from late spring right through into the winter.
Carnations are easy to grow and maintain. They like a sunny spot with free-draining soil and are ideal plants for the front of borders, containers and rock gardens.
They are not the longest-lived plants and their crowns can become woody with age, but dianthus are easy to propagate either via cuttings or by layering.
They are also easy to grow from seed. Sow undercover in trays of seed compost, and carefully transplant the seedlings into small individual pots of peat-free multipurpose compost when they are large enough to handle without damaging them.
Then add them to the garden in summer when they have been acclimatised to live outside.
Drink in this elegant summer beauty
In the depths of winter, few things cheer me more than starting seeds for the coming summer and one of my must-sows every year is cosmos seeds.
These elegant half hardy annuals with their frondy foliage and joyously open flowers are easy-going border fillers that last well into the autumn.
They usually come in shades of pink, or eye-scorching citrus tones, but there are some varieties that have a beautiful subtlety that are worth searching for.
One such is ‘Apricot Lemonade’, which has delicate pale lemony petals that form an eye-catching pink centre in the middle of each flower.
Sow the large seeds undercover in late winter, grow the young plants individually in small pots before planting out in summer when the frosts have finished.
I pinch out the growing tips to encourage bushy growth and more flowers, and don’t forget to deadhead regularly through the summer to keep them going for as long as possible.
WHATS ON
11 Jan: Beetham Nurseries Orchid Show, Beetham Nurseries, Pool Darkin Lane, Beetham, near Milnthorpe, Cumbria, LA7 7AP. 9am-4pm.
11 Jan: Hardy Plant Society Meeting: Succession Planting for a Long Season: a talk by Fergus Garrett & Plant Sale, The Old Barn Hall, 55 Church Road, Great Bookham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 3PQ. Doors open 10am.
11 Jan: Make a leather plant hanger, RHS Garden Bridgewater, Occupation Road, Worsley, Manchester M28 2LJ.
13 Jan:: Well walk, RHS Garden Rosemoor: Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH.
13 Jan: Winter willow walk, RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford CM3 8ET.
17 Jan: Snowdrop Festival at the Garden House, The Garden House, Buckland Monachorum, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 7LQ. 10.30am-3.30pm.
18 Jan: Harveys Garden Plants’ Celebration of Snowdrops, New Green Centre, New Green Avenue, Thurston, Bury St Edmunds, IP31 3TG. 11.30am-2pm.
19 Jan: Rusland Potato Day, Rusland Valley Horticultural Society, Greenodd Village Hall, near Ulverston, the Lake District, LA12 7RD. 10am-2pm.
22 Jan: Hyde Hall through the years, RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford CM3 8ET.
23 Jan: Rose pruning, RHS Garden Rosemoor: Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH.
24 Jan: Snowdrop Festival at the Garden House, The Garden House, Buckland Monachorum, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 7LQ. 10.30am-3.30pm.
24 Jan: Low-cost gardening for absolute beginners, RHS Garden Bridgewater, Occupation Road, Worsley, Manchester M28 2LJ.
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