Dash Crimson and Dash Magician sweet William have provided a small bouquet of flowers about every two weeks since May. © Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Since early May, I’ve been able to cut a small bouquet of sweet William about every two weeks. This is a plant I don’t grow very often because it does not like hot summers.
Two of the Dash series sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) from Ball Seed, came as trial plants early this spring. I potted up Dash Crimson and Dash Magician in a container and hoped for the best. Unlike a lot of times with trial plants, the best happened.
A 2014 introduction in the series is Dash Magician. Its flowers open white but age to various pinks. I have it planted with Dash Crimson, which is a deep blue-red.
Mildly fragrant, this sweet William gets about 15 inches tall, and unlike a lot of dianthus, the stems are able to hold the flowers upright. Dianthus, which includes carnation, generally has weak stems.
There are several types of dianthus, which means flower of the gods. The perennials include carnations and Cheddar pinks, such as Bath’s Pink and the 2006 Perennial Plant of the Year, Firewitch. Annuals include China pinks, such All-America Selections Corona Cherry, Melody Pink and Supra Purple. Then there is the biennial sweet William. Biennial seed germinates the first year to form a rosette, a cluster of leaves close to the ground. These rosettes are what bloom in year two. Hollyhock (Alcea rosea) is another example of a biennial.
A distinct advantage of the two I have from the Dash series is their long-flowering period. Usually by this time in a normal summer, the sweet Williams would be done, possibly returning a little later along with the cooler temps. Another advantage is that the plants bloom the first year when grown from seeds. No vernalization, or cold period, is needed. Seeds are available from Burpee.
Dianthus does best in full sun and well-drained soil. The incredibly fragrant, perennial Cheddar pinks are evergreen, holding on to their blue-green foliage all winter. These are tough plants. So tough you can walk on them.
Because the annual dianthus is very cold tolerant, it is not uncommon for it to winter over. This is not 100 percent reliable, so don’t plan your whole color scheme around this happening. Most of these annuals are sold as bedding plants, so they are inexpensive to replace.