June 9, 2011

Princess Di Graces the June Garden


Princess Di, short for Dianthus, has returned in regal splendor to my garden this June.  Self-seeding readily, this annual seems more like a perennial.  Commonly called Sweet William, Pinks, or Carnation, her  name  translates as  " flower of the gods. "

For centuries Dianthus has been one of the sought after flowers because of its ease in growing and the palette of colors it comes in from bright solids of white, rose, red, lavender and pink as well as bi-colors with beautiful eyes.   There are more than 300 species to chose from.


Dianathus has many design uses in the garden -here I've used dwarf and mat-forming varieties in my potager and it looks good next to my herbs,  blueberry shrubs, boxwood, roses, beans and tomatoes.  It also mixes well with grey colored perennials such as Lamb's Ear, or Sage.



Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago All rights reserved

4 comments:

  1. Carolyn,

    Your dianthus loooks great, not so happy with my Firewitch Dianthus. I just cut it back yesterday, floppy variety especially after the rain.

    Eileen

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  2. Hi Carolyn,
    Your Dianthus DOES look great, I planted some at the edge of the front foundation bed and the lawn "jumped" into them. They were almost impossible to weed out.
    Love the idea of it with Lamb's Ears!

    glimpsesofglory-karen.blogspot.com/

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  3. Lovely displays in your garden. Dianthus are among my favs. 'Baths Pink' and Sweet William are the ones I use most. Baths Pink tends to sometimes melt out in summer humidity but I can manage to keep new cuttings coming on.

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  4. Looks great Carolyn! Your potager is looking wonderful. I love the new design. You're showing how beautiful a food garden can be.

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