Dianthus has always seemed to be the poster child of cottage gardening to me. Charming or whimsical, bright or soft by turns--these lovelies fit neatly into almost any nook or niche and are a cheering sign that the garden has opened its arms to meet the Spring. They make me smile even on the roughest day and I hope those of you in colder areas waiting and waiting and waiting for Winter to depart will smile a little, too.

All photographs are from this morning. Except for the one noted, and the Sweet William grown from seed, all are big box store NOIDs sold as annuals, but that overwinter just fine, here.





My favorite NOID -- and --"Passion" Dianthus from the Scent First series

They are all so pretty, I bet the aroma is stupendous!

Well, mine aren't flowering yet but here is the Dianthus that I grew from seed. Not sure what it is, need to go find the seeds. They were from Garden Hoard and from a family who had been growing them for a couple generations but I recall their main characteristic was that they smell great. No flowers last year so this year is the year I will finally get to smell these flowers. In the background is Hyssop Golden Jubiliee, a day lily and some Penstemon Red Huskers.

Judy, is the Golden Jubilee the center left plant? I like bright shades of color.

Yes it has chartreuse leaves, lavender flower spires and gets to be close to 3 feet tall. Proper name is agastache Golden Jubilee.

Those plants are lovely, Debra! Thanks for sharing your pretties.

Dianthus here look great once the snow melts off of them, but it's those bare freezes afterward that really seem to hurt. I have some seedlings going now to replace any that don't make it. One of my favorites from last year is Velvet-N-Lace, a first year bloomer for me.


I saved seed from it last autumn and have some going now...it'll be interesting to see what those plants look like this year.

Judy, isn't the anticipation fun?