{"id":3600,"date":"2022-01-31T06:21:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T14:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3600"},"modified":"2022-01-31T06:21:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T14:21:29","slug":"giddy-over-gillyflowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/giddy-over-gillyflowers\/","title":{"rendered":"Giddy Over Gillyflowers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Carnation<\/a>In the winter I tend to avoid doing necessary things, like cleaning out closets, in favor of wallowing in garden catalogs, shelter magazines, and my large collection of garden and horticultural books.\u00a0 I was indulging myself the other day, when I found out, courtesy of one of the better shelter magazines, that carnations are unfashionable.<\/p>\n

Clearly if a shelter magazine is \u201crediscovering\u201d carnations, the flowers, which have been cultivated since ancient times, are about to become fashionable again.\u00a0 This has happened to the Dianthus species scores of times over the course of the millennia.<\/p>\n

Fashionable or not, I love carnations.\u00a0 They are great garden plants, not to mention the best of cut flowers.\u00a0 A couple of bunches of cheap carnations from the supermarket look wonderful, smell delicious and will last you at least three weeks, as long as you change the water periodically.\u00a0 As minor aesthetic investments go, that is one of the best.<\/p>\n

That wonderful look comes from the combination of \u201cpinked\u201d or ragged petal edges and opulent double or semi-double petal configurations.\u00a0 Lovely color is a given.<\/p>\n

The dianthus family is home to carnations of all sizes, not to mention sweet Williams and the short-statured plants known in this country as \u201cpinks\u201d.\u00a0 In Europe, especially in Great Britain, the term \u201cpinks\u201d is used more generally to include just about all dianthus.\u00a0 Given the amount of interbreeding among species over the years, this may be the best informal way to categorize the whole group.<\/p>\n

The magazine article dealt with ways of arranging the large-flowered carnations, which are ubiquitous anywhere that sells cut flowers.\u00a0 These are generally referred to as \u201cflorist\u2019s carnations\u201d and are grown for the cut flower trade under greenhouse or controlled field conditions.\u00a0 Cultivars that grow outdoors in home gardens are categorized as \u201cborder carnations\u201d.\u00a0 The mind reels at the number of varieties of both types.<\/p>\n

I am thinking about the large-flowered \u201cborder carnations\u201d, which are the result of hybridization of several different species.\u00a0 Author and gardener Vita Sackville West wrote admiringly about the Chabaud carnations, developed by a French hybridizer in the eighteen seventies.\u00a0 Some are still in commerce today, but both old and new varieties are available now in colors ranging from purest white to near-black.\u00a0 Bi-colors are common. There are no true blue carnations, unless you put a cut stem in a container of water mixed with blue dye, but the color and pattern range is still impressive.<\/p>\n

At \u00a0the moment, the fanciful side of my gardening self is drawn to the old-fashioned\u2014or at least old-fashioned in appearance–patterned varieties like \u2018Chomley Farran\u2019, wildly striped in purple and magenta; or \u2018Grace Bay\u2019, a frilly yellow variety with petals edged in red.\u00a0 The shorter Odessa \u2018Pierrot\u2019, features dark red petals edged in white.<\/p>\n

The common trait among border carnations is stature.\u00a0 The slender flower stalks can run to 16 inches, accented by grassy foliage, which is often grey-green in color.\u00a0 Scent is also a constant and one of the great attractions of the dianthus family.\u00a0 The fragrance of carnations is often described as \u201cspicy\u201d, and to my nose, the predominant note is clove.\u00a0 Some carnations have a sweeter scent, with fainter spice notes.<\/p>\n

Carnations are one of two fragrant flowers that have brought me to grief as a gardener.\u00a0 The other is sweet peas.\u00a0 The problem with carnations is that they do not seem to thrive in my soil, probably because of its acidic, heavy clay composition.\u00a0 Last summer my grief turned to joy when I found an irresistible double apricot carnation and raised it in a large terra cotta container.\u00a0 It bloomed on and off all summer, exuding its wonderful fragrance and restoring my faith in my horticultural skills.<\/p>\n

Now, as I prepare for the coming growing season, I am hip-deep in catalogs and on the hunt for the most beautiful carnations.\u00a0 My basement and garage are full of containers and the garden centers are full of potting soil, so the possibilities are tantalizing.\u00a0 I think that I will pick a range of colors and sprinkle the pots through the sunny parts of my garden, especially in places where I am likely to go every day.\u00a0 The pots will have to be collected and overwintered in a sheltered spot every year, but it is a small price to pay for all that beauty.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I will salve my winter-weary soul with supermarket carnations.<\/p>\n

For pure dianthus inspiration, I would suggest going to the website for Whetman Garden Plants, an English firm that specializes in the genus.\u00a0 Find them at https:\/\/whetmangardenplants.co.uk\/<\/a>.\u00a0 For actual plants, try Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Rd. Madison, OH 44057; (800) 852-5243; www.bluestoneperennials.com<\/a>. \u00a0Print catalog available.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Take a look at Bluestone\u2019s \u2018Pinball Wizard\u2019, a modern variety with old fashioned looks.\u00a0 If you like carnations, it will make your spirits soar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the winter I tend to avoid doing necessary things, like cleaning out closets, in favor of wallowing in garden catalogs, shelter magazines, and my large collection of garden and horticultural books.\u00a0 I was indulging myself the other day, when I found out, courtesy of one of the better shelter magazines, that carnations are unfashionable. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,1,5],"tags":[2654,2651,2652,2653,209,2655,186,737],"class_list":["post-3600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-uncategorized","category-winter","tag-border-carnations","tag-carnations","tag-dianthus-family","tag-florists-flowers","tag-fragrant-flowers","tag-garden-pinks","tag-heirloom-plants","tag-perennials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3603,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions\/3603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}