First of all – the Carnation. There was a time, some years ago, when there were hardy Carnations which would grow and flower as easily as Michaelmas Daisies – and keep on flowering. But these seem to have dropped out of cultivation and it is almost impossible to buy the plants so, unfortunately, I cannot recommend them. The only possibility is to grow the easy seedling forms like ‘Enfant de Nice’, from which it is just possible to select some which may prove to be perennial in your own garden. Do not have any truck with the so-called Border Carnations. These only give their flowers for a very short period and, if they are to be at their best, need careful treatment.
The Pinks are a different matter and come well into the scope of this category. Probably the best known of them all is the old double-flowered white variety with the fabulous scent, called ‘Mrs Simkins’ – raised by the wife of the workhouse keeper in Slough, late in the nineteenth century, and it now forms part of the arms of that borough. There are others, nowadays, which are much better because they give a long period of flower, instead of just one great glorious show. The best of all is a Pink called ‘Doris’ – a deep salmon with a faintly darker rim in the centre of the petal. Then there are the London Pinks, which are deeply marked with dark stripes round the edges of the flowers together with a blotch in the centre, and the ‘Allwoodiis’ and the ‘Highland’ Pinks. Many varieties, particularly the Allwoodiis, will go on flowering into the late autumn. It is just possible that these might be obtainable from garden centres, as grown plants, otherwise, it is necessary to buy seed, grow your own, and select those which suit you and your garden best – rather like the Delphiniums. But there is one point that is well worth remembering here – I have had a plant of one of the old Highland Pinks growing in the middle of a hardy geranium – and the two seem to enjoy each other’s company so much that they grow better than if they were living in splendid isolation.
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Carnations and pinks are very easy to propagate, although growing them from seed is not very easy. It is best to buy a few young plants from garden centres or by mail order. Best results are obtained in full sun with plenty of light and air. They can be planted in autumn or spring but spring is better if you are a beginner because you may be reluctant to face going outside on a cold, wet winter’s day just to make sure that your new plants are becoming established.
If your plants arrive dry, they should be watered and allowed to drain. Space them about 38cm/15in apart so that there is room for them to form compact beds in their second year. When planting carnations – which look good and survive best in a bed of their own – leave sufficient room between the plants to accommodate the newcomers you will be able to propagate later.
Add a little organic bone-meal to the hole and bury only the roots, keeping the lower leaves and stems completely free of soil. Then water them in (without drowning them). Check after a couple of days if the soil has shrunk away from the roots. If it has, firm it very gently back.
Splendid isolation
Carnations are happier and look better in a bed of their own. ‘Border’ types will grow easily in the garden but they do not like being swamped by lush neighbours in a herba-ceous border because this can prevent light and air reaching their leaves. They are a bit too rigid for patio pots but they can look wonderful in a sunny, well-drained corner in a choice of colours mixed together. There are three main groups. Selfs, as their name suggests, are all one colour. Picotees are usually either white or yellow, edged with a contrast. Varieties known as ‘flakes’ or ‘bizarres’ are multi-coloured, spotted or streaked. This last type is difficult to find and does not ‘marry in’ well with the other two. Avoid them unless you really want to impress your neighbours!
A somewhat newer and really spectacular carnation is the Tyrolean trailing type. Unlike the others it is quite happy to share its home with other flowers. In window boxes, in good soil and sunshine, its trailing habit will become more pronounced each season, producing large, nicely scented double flowers which go beautifully with lobelia, fuchsias or pelargoniums. Just remember that window boxes need frequent watering in summer to make sure the compost does not get too dry.
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With carnations it is particularly important to know that, unlike most other flowers, you do not feed them once the buds show colour, or they may go on to produce shapeless flowers. Feed them at weekly intervals when they have started into growth and then again when flowering has ceased until around mid-autumn. Start feeding once again the following spring, until buds show colour once more.
It is necessary to support carnations and the easiest way is with special hoops, either galvanized or plastic, available from garden centres.
Never ‘pinch them out’ or ‘stop’ them as they are producing all those slightly smaller flowers for your pleasure. It is such a shame to remove the flowers simply in order to get a few much larger ones which you would then have to cut in any case in order to exhibit them in a competition.
If you keep the bed weeded, you will not need to water carnations too often, except in very dry spells. Remove faded blooms about halfway down the stem and, when flowering is finished altogether, cut back all the long stems.
Pretty in pink
Pinks are not necessarily pink but come in many shades from pure white through to deep red. Some have a contrasting ‘eye’. Others, known as ‘laced’, have sport coloured edges.
Old-fashioned pinks flower only once in summer but they make thickly-spreading mats, useful as ground cover to smother weeds or to droop over the hard edges of new rockeries. They are invaluable planted as ‘pockets’ to soften the severe look of paving slabs or crazy paving.
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The best-known ‘maiden pink’ (Dianthus deltoides) has little perfume and its leaves are bright green rather than grey. It bears drifts of single deep pink flowers from early summer until autumn. For perfume try the pure white ‘Mrs Sinkins’, which has the inherent ‘clove’ scent typical of the dianthus family.
For colour and even more variety, the beginner should look for modern pinks. These popular blooms resemble old-fashioned pinks but are larger in flower, less compact and mat-forming and they bloom throughout the summer and into autumn. They are known as ‘perpetual’ but that does not mean they flower in winter.
Modern pinks are all descended from the famous Allwoodii hybrid which was produced by crossing an old-fashioned pink with a perpetual-flowering carnation. The popular ‘Doris’ was one of the first – it has fragrant salmon pink flowers with a reddish eye, and sometimes blooms on into winter, making it a welcome cut flower. ‘Doris’ has quite a few relatives: ‘Doris Supreme’, ‘Doris Elite’, ‘Doris Majestic’ and ‘Doris Ruby’, for instance, all of which have inherited the variety’s good points being hardy, trouble-free, perfumed and prolific.
A group known as Dianthus allwoodii alpinus forms clumps about a foot in diameter and is perfect for rockeries, stone walls and paths.
The Sweet Williams are biennials – and well known. They need the normal, biennial treatment which, to my mind, is more simply applied by buying the plants and setting them rather than by growing your own. They will give flower over a long period, some are scented – but nothing to be compared with the Pink or the Carnation – yet, quite apart from that, they give very good garden value, particularly if they are ‘dead-headed’, which means the removal of the flowers that have faded.
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