Dianthus 'Dainty Dame'
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Dianthus 'Dainty Dame' $5.95• common names: dianthus, garden pink
• flowering season: May and June, with a second bloom in autumn
• height: 6 to 10 inches
• Light requirements: full sun for the best flowering, although the plant will grow in less light
• Soil requirements: average garden soil that is well drained; adding limestone to the soil when planting is appreciated because it enjoys a sweet soil, although it isn't absolutely necessary
• Water requirments: watering regularly when first planted; older plants are drought resistant
• Growth habit: a low cushion-shaped plant that spreads moderately
• How to propagate: take tip cuttings in early summer, or peg-down a side shoot after slicing halfway through it with a knife
• Leaf type: narrow glaucous-green leaves 1 to 1½ inches long
• Ways to use it: a sunny spot in a garden; shearing back a plant by a third or a half once a year is recommended
• Special characteristics: the exceptionally nice flowers are richly fragrant
Petals of pristine white surround a dark red eye, with flowers the size of a twenty-five cent piece. It is very floriferous from spring into fall. And is very sweetly fragrant, this fragrance carrying some distance in the air. Its growth is tight and compact. Its leaves are are a lovely, chalky bluish-green. Grows well from USDA Zones 5 - 8. Can survive even farther north when covered with snow in winter, or given other protection.