(Flavora Cheddar Pinks)

Bright summer color is produced by this small, unassuming evergreen perennial Dianthus. Throughout the year it offers low spreading mounds of fine, grassy green to gray-green foliage. But, from early to midsummer it becomes covered with a cloud of small, bright pink fringed flowers with a potent sweet and spicy fragrance. Removing the spent flowers after the flush fades will keep plants looking tidy and attractive but won’t encourage them to rebloom.

This pretty perennial reigns from...

(Firewitch Cheddar Pinks, Firewitch Dianthus)

This vibrant cheddar pink is a popular bedding perennial that was named the Perennial Plant of the Year in 2006 by the Perennial Plant Association. It is distinguished by its long bloom time, fine flower color and vigorous, floriferous nature. Plants may bloom for two weeks or in flushes across three or four months.

The pretty and easy 'Firewitch' forms low, dense mounds of gleaming gray-green, grassy foliage that is evergreen. In late spring to early summer, it becomes covered with single stems...

(Dianthus)

Delicate and fleeting on their own, the light yellow flowers of the hairy garden pink or yellow dianthus are a curiousity, evoking a meadow wildflower aesthetic. A small, tufted herbaceous perennial that sends up tall, thin flower stems in summer, it is native to the highlands of Hungary in southcentral Europe.

The narrow green to slightly gray-gren leaves look like needles and are on held upon upright, four-sided stems. In early or midsummer, thin stems lightly branch to hold a small cluster...

(Dianthus, Yellow Harmony Pink)

‘Yellow Harmony’ features unique flowers of pale, creamy yellow which bloom atop slender, branched stems in summer. A selection of a species native to the highlands of Yugoslavia and Hungary, it offers larger flowers and tidier, more upright growth than its parent. Its single, fringed blossoms are borne on airy stems emerging from basal tufts of narrow, pointed, blue-green leaves, and bloom from late spring to midsummer. The flowers bear little to no fragrance, and tend to be more deeply colored...

(Albanian Pink, Mountain Pink Dianthus)

The fine, blue-green foliage of Albanian pink provides a beautiful foil to its summer display of flowers. This diminutive, mat-forming perennial hails from the Balkan Peninsula of southeastern Europe. It forms a dense, evergreen tuft of needle-like leaves topped with many small, brilliant, dark-pink flowers in late spring to early summer. The flowers bloom on short stems just above the foliage and attract bees and butterflies.

Grow this gem of a perennial in full to part sun and gritty, sharply...

(Clove Pinks, Cottage Pinks)

The original cottage pink of yore, Dianthus plumarius is today rarely grown in its natural, wild form. A tall, wispy, clump-forming herbaceous perennial native to eastern Europe, the cottage pink has been cultivated for centuries and is the prominent "old-fashioned" species used for the development of modern day garden pinks.

The gray-green leaves grow in a loose matted clump that can spread quite wide. In the warmth of summer, tall stems sky upward from the foliage and reveal paired...

(Clove Pinks)

The fragrant, white blossoms of ‘Albiflorus’ cottage pinks add brilliances to the early summer garden. The fringed, spice-scented flowers of this seed-grown strain bloom from late spring to midsummer. They rise on slender stems from spreading, evergreen clumps of linear, blue-green leaves, and may attract small bees and butterflies.

Like most cottage pinks, ‘Albiflorus' grows and flowers best in full to part sun and average, well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil. Avoid overwatering and soggy...

(Clove Pinks, Itsaul White Clove Pinks)

The fringed, frilly, vanilla-scented, white flowers of ‘Itsaul White,’ a selection of border pink, provide a beautiful complement to its low tufts of silvery-blue leaves. An evergreen, clump-forming perennial, it has linear, needle-like leaves and spreads to form a dense mat of foliage. Numerous, small, fringed, semi-double flowers appear on short stems above the leaves from late spring to early summer, and may attract small butterflies.

Like most Border pinks, ‘Itsaul White’ thrives in full...

(Clove Pinks, Cottage Pinks, Spring Beauty Pinks)

The fragrant, single to semi-double blossoms of ‘Spring Beauty’ border pink add brilliance to the summer garden. Appearing in various shades of pink, rose, salmon and white, the fringed, spice-scented flowers of this seed-grown strain bloom from late spring to midsummer. They rise on slender stems from spreading, evergreen clumps of linear, blue-green leaves, and may attract small bees and butterflies.

Like most Border pinks, ‘Spring Beauty’ grows and flowers best in full to part sun and average,...

(Dianthus)

The genus Dianthus comprises approximately 300 species and more than 27,000 cultivars. Collectively known as “pinks”, these showy flowering plants have been grown for many hundreds of years. Their common name was given for the sharply-toothed petal tips of their flowers, which look like they were cut by pinking shears.

Nearly all Dianthus species hail from Eurasia and northern Africa, while only one originates from North America. Most are herbaceous tender perennials; however...