Dianthus, or pinks, are one of my favorite flowers. Like marigolds, they are a simple, old-fashioned flower. They offer great mixed colors and flower sizes, are very easy to grow, come back every year, and bloom profusely.
I have one type of dianthus here that forms a thick silvery evergreen mat of foliage that tumbles neatly over the edges of my rock wall beds.
Multi-color dianthus blooms in a rock wall bed, with evergreen dianthus with white flowers hanging over the edges.
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These flowers were planted in the spring of last year, and have returned even thicker and prettier this year.
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While these plants are usually marked as annuals at garden centers in our area, they truly are perennials here. I buy a few more every year, and have them all over my yard, here and there in flower beds, along the edge of my driveway and patio, in containers, and hanging over rock wall beds. The foliage is soft and grasslike and the plants form neat mounds.
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These dianthus are growing in containers. The red ones (left) were also planted in spring of last year, and the bright pink ones in the green planter were planted 3 years ago. They survive thru the winters here with no care whatsoever, even in containers.
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I deadhead these flowers regularly, snip them back a little every now and then throughout the summer, water them only during extreme dry spells, and otherwise leave them alone. After the first frost in late fall, they stop blooming and the tops of the plants and flowers turn brown. I leave them alone all throughout the winter. In the spring, as new growth starts, I snip off the brown tips, and they start flowering again.
Pictured below, left to right: The first photo shows a narrow bed along the edge of my driveway. I planted this narrow strip of ground last year with dianthus, and they have returned thicker and prettier this year. The second photo is another clump of the silvery, evergreen type. The third photo shows another thick clump in full bloom right now, originally planted last year.
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All photos in this post were taken over this past week. Click any photo to view a larger version.
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From wikipedia:
Dianthus (aka carnations, pinks, sweet william) is a genus of about 300 species native mainly to Europe and Asia, with a few extending south to north Africa, and one (D. repens) in arctic N. America. The name Dianthus is from the Greek words dios (“god”) and anthos (“flower”). The species are mostly perennial herbs, a few are annual or biennial, and some are low subshrubs with woody basal stems.
The colour pink may be named after the flower. The origin of the flower name ‘pink’ may come from the frilled edge of the flowers: the verb “pink” dates from the 14th century and means “to decorate with a perforated or punched pattern” (maybe from German “pinken” = to peck). Source: Collins Dictionary. The verb sense is also used in the name of pinking shears.
These are pretty flowers!
I just planted some dianthus, but they’ve got a long way to go before they’re as gorgeous as yours.
Thank you for visiting, Leeann. :)
Musings, it won’t take them long to get thicker and have more and more flowers. I’m sure yours will do well, and you will enjoy their bright flowers as I do.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
mine are 2 yrs old.. but they are starting to drop blooms now,(june) and im haveing a big party in july,,, if i dead head them now will they rebloom again?
Cindy, yes they will most likely be blooming again by then. I cut mine back a little bit after the blooms start to die, and they rebloom again and again throughout the summer.
I have just been told about these plants ND AM GOING TO PURCHASE some this week. Any planting tips? I am in Tennessee where the winters get cold sometimes 15-20 degrees. Do you think they will survive? I would like to know more about the evergreen Dianthus. They are really beautiful. I have some bare spots in a flower mound that have Lupine and Columbine. Will the Dianthis look good with these plants? You said your Dianthus grow al year round. What stste are you in?
Thanks in advance for your comments.
Hi jester,
I’m in NC and my dianthus comes back year after year, so yours should do the same in TN. I do snip them back a little several times in the summer, and also a little in the fall (except for the evergreen silvery varieties, I don’t prune those at all except to deadhead).
They all like full sun and average soil here, and yes, I think they will be pretty with Lupine and columbines.
I think Lowe’s garden centers sometimes have the pink and red-flowered evergreen varieties. They are very pretty, but not quite as thick as the white-flowered types I have on the rock walls. I’m not sure where you could get that kind (the white/silvery ones on the rock walls), mine were given to me years ago by an elderly neighbor and I have since propagated them by dividing them. I’m sure they’re available online though.
Below are some places that have the red, whites and pink shades of evergreen:
parkseed.com raspberry surprise
parkseed.com white to deep rose
soonerplantfarm.com
Good luck, hope yours do well.
-Sherry
I bought seven Dianthus plants last summer from Lowes; they looked great. This spring, I couldn’t believe how beautiful they returned-what a gorgeous surprise. I used to plant Impatiens every year-but why bother with the labor and expense when I can have something better like these plants?
Also, thanks for telling me to snip the flowers back. I welcome many years of ease & beauty.
Hi anonymous,
I love them too, they’re such easy to grow plants and look so pretty. Whenever mine start to look ratty, I just prune them severely and they put out new growth. Glad you’re enjoying yours. :)
i just bought some and i was just woundering do they need alot of sun light
iwas going to but them beside my kio pond
Hi Bethany,
The more sun they get, the more flowers you will have. I do have some that grow well in partial shade, but the ones with the most flowers are in full sun. Good luck with yours, hope they do well.
Sherry
Sherry,
I just purchased some dianthus and the leaves of the white flowered plant browned. I am unsure about where to put them now. Thanks for any comments.
Hi jerseygirl,
I’m not sure.. maybe they were over-watered? Just plant them out in a sunny, well-drained spot and snip off the brown parts — they will most likely recover quickly and put out new growth if the roots are okay. Good luck with them, I hope they recover and do well.
hi,
i have pinks and in tenn, they were full of blooms and now have all gone, nothng is left except, i guess the dead bloom, so now what do i do, cut that off to the green or just the top, i dont know what it means to deadhead a flower. any help, never grew them before, but seen them here at most restaurants.
Hi Cheryl,
Yes, just snip off the brown and the stems where the flowers were and you should see new growth (and flowers) quickly. Deadheading just means cutting off the spent flowers before they go to seed — snipping off the stems below where the petals are. Hope yours are soon filled with flowers!
Sherry
Hi, I am planning to buy some this weekend. They are just beautiful and will be a great accent to my flower bed. I have a couple of questions though.
1)Will they spread? 2) The pots I plan to buy are pretty full. Is it ok to separate them and plant smaller groups? Thanks!
Hi Jill,
I haven’t had a problem with them spreading too much, the clumps do get thicker and wider every year though. I don’t let mine go to seed but keep on snipping off the spent flowers so they will continue to bloom until frost. Yes, you can separate them easily. Good luck with yours, hope you get lots of blooms. :)
Sherry
[…] posts: Dianthus flower bed Front Flower Beds Blooms and containers July […]
I bought some this summer for the first time and I love them. I’m in WI, do you know if they will survive the winter. I did buy the perrenials. Thanks
Hi Priscilla,
I know that some types of dianthus are hardy from zones 3 to 8 and some from zones 3 to 8, so hopefully yours will come back also. Thanks for your visit.
I’ve had Dianthus for 15 years, and they always come back here in Minnesota. I would suggest however, letting them go to seed. They seem to be more of a short lived perennial here in the north, as mine have tended to disappear after 3 years or so, but with new plants from self sowing growing a few inches from where the old one was. Last summer, I bought annual dianthus which did great all summer in pots. I left a few out in a concrete pot and a few left in the ground over the winter thinking they would all die, but to my surprise, they had survived our brutal winter.
Hi Julie C,
I have noticed some volunteer seedlings around mine as well. I too was surprised to see the plants survive and stay green all winter here too, they even had a few sparse blooms on them in late winter.
Thanks for your post.
PS, Julie I’m not sure why your comment is appearing up here when it is the most recent one to this post. Strange! :)
Hi Sherry,
Thanks so much for sharing the pictures of your dianthus garden. They are lovely and I am inspired to plant them in our front garden to enjoy year after year.
Hi Chansey, thank you, glad you enjoyed the photos. The pinks are cheerful little flowers.
What variety of dianthus have you grown as perennials? I love the mixed colors.
Chansey, all my dianthus, even the ones sold as annuals here, come back every year. I too love mixing the colors up. Thanks for visiting.
My dianthus are in a pot. They did winter over in VA but bloom less rather than more. They face East and get good morning sun.
Should Dianthus be fertilized? Other than moving the pot to a sunnier location, how can I get more flowers?
Hi Pat,
I do fertilize mine, I use miracle-gro about every other week throughout the spring and summer. I also cut them back several times throughout the growing season. They seem to flower much better after I prune them. Hope this helps, and thanks for visiting.
Thank you. Will do.
How much cod weather willdianthus taake? Will they freeze? Thank you
jOE
Hi Joseph,
Although freezing weather sometimes kills back some of the foliage, for the most part they are evergreen here (zone 7a). I cut off the brown parts in spring and they put out new growth every year.
so Great…
Hi,
I just planted several dianthus for my dad. They all looked real healthy on top but were brown and stemmy on the bottom. I’m wondering, how far do I cut them back and why are they dry, brown and stemmy on the bottom part of the plant? What do I need to do to get rid of the brown stemmy part on the bottom of all the plants?
Thanks for your help.
Hi Tammy,
If they were packed together in flats at a nursery, the bottoms may have been shaded and turned brown. Just prune them back and you should see new green growth soon. Hope they thrive.
sherry:
i planted several of the pinks & very few of them have flowers on them that have come out, the rest of the plant has brn. buds, which i pinch off. is this normal. i live in indiana. they are planted in a sunny place basically in lava rock with mulch on top.
i mixed the soil really good, using miracle gro. before planting. do they bloom the first yr?
thank you for your response
Hi, just wanted to let you know that my dianthus are now 3 years old and we live in Idaho where temps can somtimes be below zero. Like you have said, I leave them alone for the winter and in the spring prune out the dried leaves around the bottom of the plants. Most of my plants face west where they get the afternoon and evening sun and they seem to like that. Thanks for all the good tips!
Diane
Hi Diane,
I’m glad to know that you found the post helpful, and that your dianthus came back! Thanks for posting.
Sherry
sherry: please email me your comments.
(Joyce, I emailed you my response.)
Sherry,
I love the dianthus. They do really well in Texas and do come back. But lately, something has been destroying the roots. You can pull a flowered healthy looking plant up and the roots have been obliterated. How can I treat this? Thanks!
Hi susan,
Dianthus are sometimes affected by general root or crown rot and a disease called “Pythium root rot”. The only way to combat it is to make sure you have them planted in a place that gets very good drainage and don’t pile up mulch too deeply around them. There also may be soil drenches or fungicides available to treat this, but I’m sorry I don’t know the names of any.
Sorry I can’t be of more help,
Sherry
Thanks for the information. I bought a flat of these last year and planted them thinking they were just annuals. I must not have had my glasses on that day ;-). Wow, what a wonderful surprise this year when I found that they had all returned, bigger and better. I thought maybe they were a bi-annual and that’s why I looked them up and found your information. VERY glad to know they are perennials and very prolific. Thanks again!
You’re welcome, Margaret Ann. I’m glad you found the info helpful. Some of the dianthus I have were marked as annuals, but most all of them come back year after year. I just cut mine back often and they keep coming.
Thanks for posting,
Sherry
Please tell me the difference between Dihantus and Sweet william,
Hi Claire,
Dianthus is the name of the genus or “family” of many different species of plants, including Sweet Williams, Pinks, and Carnations. Sweet Williams are usually taller and more upright than the dianthus in this post. The flowers look about the same though, and many people call them all “pinks”, which is confusing I know. Sweet Williams are biennials often grown as annuals, although they do reseed themselves.
Hope this helps,
Sherry
Hi,
I’m just starting to learn about gardening. I’m from Massachusetts and have some dianthus’ in my yard. The previous owner planted all the landscaping. I have long stemmy pink ones and some fushia pink ones. I’ve lived here two years and they come up every year. A few weeks ago the flowerheads died and have turned brown. From reading on this site and other ones, it seems I should have cut the dead flowers right away. It looks they have they already started to seed. Is it too late to cut them off? I’d like to have them reflower this summer if possible. What should I do?
Thanks so much,
Marie
Hi Marie,
It’s definitely not too late. I cut mine back several times throughout the spring and summer. Every time the blooms start to fade, I snip each plant back a little, and they just keep on putting out new buds. Definitely cut yours back now, just snip off the stems where the old flowers are.
-Sherry
Hi Sherry,
Thank you for the quick reply. From looking at pictures, I think the ones I have are Bath’s Pink and Firewitch. I just want to confirm where I should cut it. These are very long stems. Should I cut just below where the brown is or just above where it meets with petals? Also, just before they turned brown we had a very severe storm that has made the dianthus’ now lean to the side. Do you think they will recover this season on their own? Thanks for your help.
Marie
Marie,
You’re welcome. Just go ahead and clip off the stems as far down as you would like — with mine, like the ones in this post, I clip them off pretty good right after they have a good flush of blooms that start to fade, and it doesn’t take them but just a couple of weeks to start again. Now, I’m not sure if Bath’s Pink and Firewitch will bloom as often or as fully as the plain ones (yours may bloom more sporadically until fall), but it’s not going to do anything but make them thicker and better to prune them a bit.
-Sherry
im doing research on dianthus and i have a question. Is dianthus drought tolerant??????
Anonymous,
They are supposed to be somewhat drought tolerant.. but in my experience, newly planted dianthus need to be watered during dry spells. My established plants handled our drought last summer and came through fine, but I did lose some of the newly planted ones due to drought.
Sherry
Sherry, thank you for the information. I have had one little Dianthus plant that I got 3 springs ago. It has survived a brutal winter with ice/snow and a not so brutal winter but we have been in a really bad drought here in Texas under water restrictions last summer..my little plant turned crispy and I thought for sure it was gone. It has bloomed out prettier than ever this spring and I have just planted a little neighbor next to it to fill in my little square flower area. Those who are wondering about drought, it will survive….but it definitely could have used more water last year.
Hi Darla,
Good to know that the dianthus plants survived the drought, thanks for posting!
Hi! I have moved into a home 1 1/2 years ago that has the most beautiful Dianthuses in the front yard. Last year I trimmed off all the flowers that had died to keep the plant pretty and healthy. It then rebloomed onlyone more time very sparcely. Most of the summer our Dianthuses went without flowers. I am determined this summer to keep them beautiful for the whole season if possible. I read somewhere that you can divide your dianthus to keep it rejuvenated. I am sure that these ones have never been divided. I just went out to my garden to divide them and could not easily break them apart like I read that I was going to be able to. Can you give me some advice? Maybe splitting them isn’t the best cure anyway. My dianthuses have little soft pink flowers and are very low to the ground. The base of the plant looks like a silvery grey cobweb. Sorry I don’t know the specific name of the dianthus!
Hi Sylvia,
It won’t hurt them to divide them by cutting them apart. I’m not an expert, but it’s been my experience that the blue foliage, evergreen type (the ones with the tall very light pinkish-white flowers, as seen on the rock wall in the first photo in the post above) will only bloom once and then maybe a sparse bloom later on in the summer. The other types, as seen in the last photos in the post above, bloom repeatedly throughout spring and summer as long as I’m diligent to keep them deadheaded. I’m sorry I don’t know the specific names of them either. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
Sherry
Thank you so much for all of your help! I hope you enjoy another beautiful spring.
You’re welcome, Sylvia, happy spring to you as well!
Hello Sherry,
I live in WA state. I have a garden that is lined with rocks along my driveway much like you do. Yours is so beautiful that I cannot help but want to copy you. I have lived here for 12 years and have always wanted to line the driveway with flowers but never knew what to put there until I saw yours. I have a lot of ground to cover, my driveway is pretty long. Because of this I thought I should plant seeds but will they bloom this year if I plant now? I am in zone 8.
Thank you for sharing your gorgeous flowers!
Thank you, Tricia. Dianthus seeds probably should have been sown earlier than now, but you can probably find seedlings easily this time of year. I see them available in six packs at a lot of garden centers, even at Lowe’s in spring so I think that’s your best bet.
Thanks for your comments,
Sherry
I want to make a hanging basket, will the Dianthus do well and make a full and bushey hanging basket?
Hi Barbara,
Of course it depends on what type of dianthus you grow, but in my opinion, no they don’t make very full and bushy hanging baskets. (just my opinion). I think the blue evergreen foliage types would look good and fill up a basket, but you wouldn’t get much bloom after spring like you would with wave petunias or million bells.
Sherry
I live in New Jersey and planted these in my flower boxes last year. Much to my surprise after the winter (which was very mild this year) they are in full bloom and beautiful there are soooo many flowers. I would never plant anything else in my flower boxes again. For so many years every April or May I have to replant flowers. I cannot plant them any earlier because they could die from frost. It was so nice to see flowers pop up the end of March!
Happy Flowering….
Rose
Hi rose,
I agree, it’s so nice to see these cheerful little flowers in early spring. I try to add a few more to my garden every year.
Happy gardening :)
Sherry
The evergreen dianthus with white flowers is quite attractive. Is it really evergreen in north Jersey? Where can I purchase it. I have a long rock wall
and it would look awesome on the strip on top, Do you know the botannical name for this particular one?
Mark, I answered you in a response to your email.
Yes U did, I had posted the comment before I realized I could e-mail you directly. Thanks again.
So, to the planting experts… I am dying to be a good gardener and spend hours and hours researching what plants to put where, amount of sun, etc. etc. etc. I planted dianthus (neon star) around my mailbox and they looked so cute except now the buds are all brown. I can see from above that I should cut them off and see if that helps, but my bigger question is how do you tell if the area that you have something planted in has good drainage? I am pretty sure that I have overwatered them in the beginning because the dirt was dry and they are in full sun a lot of the day, but if I trim them back will they recover or should I just scratch it and pull them all up? If I gave them root rot and that area has poor drainage, can I/should I dig up and relocate (not sure where) pot them in a container, or have I killed them all together? :( Assassinating plants in Atlanta, Alison
Hi Alison,
If it is only the buds or spent flowers that are brown, then just cut off those particular stems. If the entire plant is brown, I would cut it all off and see if it will resprout. It probably will. :)
You should be able to feel of the soil and see how long it’s staying wet after watering or rain, make sure there’s no standing water. If the area has poor drainage, you can improve that by amending the soil with compost, add two or three inches and work it in with a shovel.
Good luck! And don’t feel bad about assasinating plants, we all do it. I kill a few every year. :)
-Sherry
Would you recommend these in a clawfoot tub planter in the backyard? What else might you recommend for some hearty perennials to give a tub some depth and fun color?
Hi Smiling Ali,
Yes, dianthus would work fine in a planter, as long as it has drainage holes. I’m not sure what Zone you’re in so I can’t say for sure what would work for you, but maybe Coreopsis, lamiums for colorful foliage, or try annuals that reseed.
-Sherry
No idea what happens wrong but all dried and died
Hi, I’m new to planting hanging flower pots. How many plants do I put together to get a full foliage? I have the pink and red dianthus. I live in Arizona. Will these plants last all year with our heat? I’ve never done this before so I’m a little hesitant. Do I just put soil in pot and then add plant? I don’t know where to cut back when grown or what deadheading is.
Hi,
I’m not sure about your climate zone, but here are some videos that should help with your questions. You can plant dianthus close together if you’re going to leave them in a pot — plant as many as you want. In the ground, I would space them out a few inches, depending on the look you’re going for and the type of dianthus you’re growing. These videos (and others on the page) should help:
Hi Sherry, I hope you receive this – it’s been a couple of years since your last post. I’m in Adelaide South Australia and have a 7-8 year old dianthus that has lived on neglect for most of that time. It’s a single plant with a 3/4″ base stem. It’s long trailing stems are quite woody, and lives in a small pot. My dianthus is darkish pink and heavily fragrant. Over the last 5-6 years it has hardly flowered due to neglect, but it has survived. Now, however, it sits in a mostly shady position and is growing and flowering much more. This little old beauty is amazing, having lived thru so many house moves. I’m excited to see the new growth, even now in our winter. I’ve just collected some seeds and will plant them out in the spring, so hopefully I’ll have lots of little babies to plant out. Thanks for your post :-D