I have to express my affection for dianthus, those hardy china pinks that have thrived in my garden through frosty winters and fiery summers while producing a non-stop show. This year the survivors have grown to lofty heights of 8-10 inches tall and are still bursting with color. Typically the china pinks (dianthus chinensis) are listed as annuals/biennials, but here in my Texas garden, they have suffered months and years of neglect and abuse and still put on a show. Nailing down particular species and cultivars have been challenging though. It appears most of my nursery purchases have been of dianthus chinensis, dianthus hybrida, dianthus x Telstar, or dianthus chinensis x barbatus. No single publication tends to agree what the formal scientific names are, but at least pictures and descriptions have been somewhat helpful. I found a good resource on a local Texas wholesaler’s site (Creation Colors) supplying good descriptions of some of the cultivars available in the nursery trade.