Hi this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment, we're going to learn all about growing dianthus and they're a beautiful plant and they come in many, many forms. Most people know dianthus as pinks, these are considered pinks. They have little tiny pink flowers all over them that look like they were cut with pinking shears. They've been around for a long time so it's thought that the pinking shears were actually called pinking shears because of the flower because people notice the shape. And they were named dianthus by Theo Frastis, he was a Greek botanist and he combined the word Dios for God and Anthos for plant. So this is considered a plant of the Gods. Now this dianthus is done blooming, it's been trashed, it's the end of November and it looks terrible. So the great thing about dianthus is that you can just chop it. You can just chop it all the way down to the ground as long as it looks good, the greens look good, I leave them alone but I like to just trim them back. And periodically too, once or twice a year in the middle of summer, just trim all the dead growth out and they'll grow new lush, lush growth again and you'll get two or three sets of blooms. They'll keep blooming summer through fall till ever it freezes really hard. And they're pretty hardy, so dianthus will survive most winters in the northwest. They don't handle really cold, cold climates too well though. So pinks are the most popular dianthus but there's also mini carnations and carnations. And mini carnations and carnations are started from seed and they'll bloom over the summer but they're not winter hardy in cold climate so they'll die right away. So you can start them every year and then get them going. It's easier to start them inside, get the seeds growing and then put them outside. You can also get part of a plant, a division too as long as you protect it from heavy, heavy freeze it should come back from year to year. Sweet Williams are also a gorgeous perennial that's in the dianthus family. So besides pinks, sweet Williams, carnations, mini carns, you've seen them around and as long as you put them in a sunny spot with good drainage, give them lots of water when they're growing, trim them back when they look trashy, they'll grow lush and they'll come back from year to year. If you live in a warm climate, if you live in a cold climate, just start them from seed every spring.
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