It's been plenty cold, with several freezes (including one that was serious enough to freeze our entire large pond across thick enough to support the weight of four very confused ducks). But my lovely Dianthus are undaunted. Not only do the flowers refuse to die, but the plants have put out new buds. I bought some of these as annuals about 5 years ago and they re-seeded themselves. They are the first of my garden plants to begin blooming in spring and, obviously, the last to quit in the fall.
Some fun dianthus facts:
- They are commonly called "pinks" after the seemingly pinked edges of the flowers.
- The color pink is named for this plant.
- The carnation is a perennial dianthus subspecies.
- There are around 300 subspecies of dianthus.
- The swamp pink, an endangered plant native to Delaware and other eastern marshlands, is not a dianthus, but a type of lily.
