Dianthus, Dwarf China Pinks, Dwarf Dianthus 'Super Parfait Raspberry'

I bought these "annuals" last year and I am amazed to see them fresh and green again in my garden this spring! I live in a suburb of Bos...Read Moreton, MA and we got quite a few subzero temperatures this past winter.

Originally I purchased these plants from a Church's Mother's Day Flower sale. It was in the "annual" section and simply looked like an al...Read Moreternative to suburbia's over-done-Impatients ground coverage.....here on Long Island, NY. . . zone 7a. Some of the plants went into my flower boxes and were disgarded for the winter hardy plants.

It has been three years now and I would like to tell you that it is the most delightful hassle-free addition to my south - facing front yard flower strip running along the sidewalk. I could hardly believe it, when finally 3 feet of snow melted and my raspberry parfaits' mounds were a solid emerald green that doubled in size from last year!

October 2008, I collected the spent blossom seed heads and brown bagged them till the middle of March 2009. After cleaning up the mess to get the seeds, I planted 1 seed per yogurt cup (yes, I recycle) filled with peat moss. I do not remember the germination time - maybe I should use our available D-journal LOL). Once the seeds came to about 3 inches in height, I transplanted them into my south facing yard with Scott's or Miracle Grows garden soil. But I do remember that the ration was 9/10. This means that out of 10 seeds planted, 9 turned into beautiful splashes of non-stop flowering plants that lasted from Mother's Day till the end of October. I guess these where not the biannual kind.

I ran out of time last year in October and only disgarded the plants in my flower boxes, but left the rest of the garden to try-out "Winter Garden Texture". Yuck, not for me......but so worth it when I saw these little 12 inch clumps of emerald green between my Iris and Hyacinth. I suppose these are not the annual or biannual kind. I am hoping that the Dianthus Raspberry Parfait blooms will start to peak, when my spring flowers go to rest.

Regardless, I will not throw out the flowerbox plants this year. Once they have done their job there, I will find a perminent spot for them in my south-facing garden and continue to offer the seeds to my fellow D-gardeners. If you collect their seedheads approximately a month before their last hurrah, (here it's around mid October- Nov) (7) 2 year old plants will produce about 16,000 shiny black seeds.

That's alot of happiness to spread around! :-)

For container gardeners, I can only recommend these neatly growing plants. They are easy to deadhead and constantly have blooms. The ones in my containers actually are in indirect sun on my front porch and they grew just as lovely. You should also know that they are stunning next to the Lobelia - Chrystal Palace! The depth of their magenta and white, mixed with this particular Lobelia (which is the deepest of royal ink blue) are absolutely stunning in color and balance of form. The Dianthus is slightly more rounded while the Lobelia - same in height - is an airy cascading wave of royal blue.