GARDEN IDEAS
Growing Carnations
Growing carnations in your back yard or garden will be a pleasure...
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Choosing your flowers:
There are hundreds of varieties of carnation. ( Latin name: Dianthus ) Choose varieties with a fairly strong scent. Some of the hybrids have lost their scent during the genetic changes. The colours are beautiful and will add a splash of colour all over the garden.
These carnations can be grown from seed and are available online at Thompson & Morgan (UK)
Dianthus caryophyllus 'Trailing Carnations Mixed'
Magnificent and visual impact wherever grown
Easy for all to grow
The colour range is mainly pink and red shades.
Positioning:
Carnations like full sun but some varieties will tolerate a little shade. Soil should be well-drained, so your rock garden would be a good position for some of the shorter types.
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Get creative when growing carnations! They can be grown in pots, on terraces or dotted around your back garden or yard. They will grow anywhere but as they have floppy stems and heavy flowers, it's best to avoid windy areas.
Planting:
Start your carnations off by sowing seed or buy ready made baby plants from your garden centre. I like to start as many plants every year with seed if I can, but sometimes there aren't enough hours in the day :-)
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They don't like acid soil so add a little lime before planting if necessary.
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Sow seed indoors in early spring, in well-drained pots or trays of fresh compost, and plant out when the seedlings are a few inches high (7-8cms), strong enough and all danger of a frost has passed.
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Give plants about 10-12 inches (25-30cm) of growing space. Growing carnations and pinks as edging or borders round larger beds will encourage bees and butterflies, and look stunning.
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Caring for carnations:
I always forget to water the carnations, and they never mind that much! You should water them well when planting, but otherwise they seem to do well in even the driest of conditions. Remember to water them occasionally though.
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Slugs tend to like carnations. They have a very soft foliage making the new plants a great meal for slugs and snails. Gravel helps this problem and well-drained soil.
An old gardener's trick is to put a bowl full of beer buried almost up to the rim near your plants. Slugs apparently prefer the taste of beer to flowers... I've tried this with lettuce plants - the slugs turned their backs on the beer and devoured my lettuces instead. But you never know. It could be worth a try!
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Broken egg shells also help deter slugs.
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Don't mulch carnations. The soft foliage is easily rotted through a wet environment. Carnations and pinks like a good airflow and are happiest in sunny dry places.
The harvest:
Don't deny yourself a few cut flowers in the house. Carnations and pinks look wonderful and smell divine. Cut flower heads off when they die and the plant should produce more and more blooms.
Growing carnations and pinks in your garden isn't difficult and the rewards are fabulous!
Thompson & Morgan (UK) also have some fabulous carnation plants - these blooms are just heavenly!
