Tag Archives: dianthus

Ye Olde Garden

Dianthus love

3/17/2008 Dianthus Telstar ScarletI 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.
3/17/2008 Muscari and Dianthus B1
Ye Olde Garden

Early spring gardening

After our meal at New San Dor on Sunday, hubby was persuaded to do some lawn work. We stopped by Lowe’s to pick up a bag of weed-and-feed to treat the henbit weed infestation that has covered most of our front lawn. To my surprise, he fired up the lawn mower (which started on the first pull) and proceeded to scalp the lawn. Meanwhile, I busied myself on getting the plants that had been hardening off on the porch into the flower beds.

I am looking forward to purchasing another flat of dianthus; the 18-count flat that I got from Cristina’s are filling the front borders of B4 and B5. I had 2 or 3 leftovers that I proceeded to locate in B1 and B2…but there are still many more holes left to fill. I also grabbed the 3 Lowe’s ajuga and set them in B3, along with one of the Sooner ajugas. I’m concerned that the Chocolate Chip ajugas look dissimilar: the Lowe’s-purchased ajuga are darker and smaller-leafed, while the Sooner ajuga have longer, bronze leaves. Both were flowering blue however.

I situated the Oriental Limelight artemisia in B2 and B4, both centered in the bed…I noticed these specimens were busting out of their pots. I wonder how invasive they will be. Do they pose a threat to my lilies and daylilies? We’ll see as summer draws near.

Finally, I got the Hosta sunk into the ground next to the Hot Lips salvia in S1. I also planted the heuchera next to it. I’m hoping the newly pruned salvia will branch out and offer some shade to its new neighbors when the summer heat arrives.

3/17/2008 Circle of tulips and daffodils 3/17/2008 Accent Narcissus neighbors 3/17/2008 Accent Narcissus closeup

Ye Olde Garden

Feels like spring

I spent my lunch hour today visiting Cristina’s and Lowe’s. I walked out with an 18-count flat of dianthus (Telstar mix) from Cristina’s. At Lowe’s, I scooped up a 6 pack of white tulips that were going for 50% off and bought 3 3.5″ pots of Chocolate Chip Ajuga. Dad told me I should’ve waited out the local chain home improvement stores for the plants I wanted. 🙁 But of course there weren’t any Salvia greggiis that caught my eye (was hoping for white greggii).

So…for homework, I’m looking to propagate the following plants over the weekend: rosemary, salvia, and gaura. Not sure how the Crimson Brandy gaura that’s thriving in B2 will take to a disturbance, but this plant has intrigued me to the point of experimentation. As for rosemary, I’m inclined to believe that our yard is ready for a hedge of them, if only to alleviate the dog smell wafting from our yard. Dad says that 5 days in water will persuade it to root, and I’m thinking that unruly specimen in B5 is in dire need of a whacking. As for the salvia, the one remaining white salvia in B4 looks to be resurrecting itself in the warm weather. I’ll be inspecting it regularly for cuttings. And I’m going to keep trying to propagate more of the Hot Lips for sharing–I’m amazed that the 3 cuttings I took last year and sank into the ground before winter are still there, if a tad bit to puny. Hopefully I can also harvest some cuttings of the new Salvia chamaedryoides in B3.

Ye Olde Garden

Don’t shop a flower by its picture

Now why can’t I follow that advice? I swung by Home Depot after lunch today to purchase some gardening gloves, and walked out with 2 packets of Burpee seeds: Dianthus deltoids Microchip Mix and Centaurea cyanus Blue Boy Bachelor Buttons. I opened the seed packets to see the likelihood of sowing these seeds for spring…as usual, I can’t see how dianthus seeds successfully sprout given their near-microscopic size. The bachelor buttons look more likely to produce some results; I’m looking forward to adding them to S1 and B3, along with Miss Jekyll Blue nigella damascena.

In addition, I rediscovered a seed packet I received from Wildseed Farms last year. Bluebonnet, coreopsis, Indian Blanket, Black-Eye Susan, Lemon Mint, Drummond Phlox, Cornflower, and Corn Poppy are listed. I’m debating the placement of these seeds; I’m uncertain that I want to introduce these into the beds but it may give the flower beds a burst of color for spring, until the lilies and flowering perennials can come into their own.

Ye Olde Garden

Another rain, another bloom

Wondering why it’s been muggy lately? That’s because we had another shower, and my flowers are loving it. Some time last week, I deadheaded the spent Cosmos and Dianthus blooms, and now they’re back for another show. I am loving these Cosmos! So much so, that I’ve ordered an ounce of the Psyche White from Wildseedfarms.com and 4 packets of the Ladybird Dwarf Red from Dianeseeds.com to try out. Let’s hope I can get them to grow even though it’s mid-summer already.

Those “purple blue” salvias that I planted in the middle bed last year didn’t bloom true. I found 3 of the 4 salvias showing off rose-colored flowers…so I transplanted them this morning to the corner beds. One of them even had volunteer rootlings which I quickly planted into different holes, with some good soil. I’ve been meaning to fill those corners with salvia anyway.

I was also happy to see one of the Flevo glads laden with blooms this morning. Not exactly the crimson red I expected, but more of a dark rose red  color. Very rich and very vibrant. While this gladiolus was reported as a dwarf in Brent and Becky’s catalog, my specimens averaged three feet tall, and the flower spike needed some support. I noticed not all of the other glads were faring well…some pest is making a meal of the glad leaves.

I’ve become obsessed with finding some true blue salvias of the same habit as my greggiis; current candidates are Salvia azurea and Salvia reptans to fill the holes in my blue & white bed. Oh, and add Salvia chamaedryoides and coahuilensis to the wishlist….