Dianthus (Dianthus Plumarius Sweetness) - Dianthus Plumarius flowers for months on compact, mat-forming, evergreen, plants. This perennial easily grows from Dianthus Plumarius seed, so make room in your garden for this beautiful flower! From its wide range of colors, everything from nearly white to deep carmine, with all hues of pink in between, to its super-abundant bloom season, it lives up to its name in garden glory.

The fringed, dark-eyed blooms of this Dianthus ground cover are about 1 inch wide, set atop foliage that reaches just 6 inches high. Radiantly bright, these flowers would be eye-catching even if they didn't lure you in by the nose first, their sweet floral scent absolutely irresistible. Bees and butterflies find them irresistible. It makes a good cut flower as well.

Dianthus Sweetness spreads about a foot wide in the sunny garden making it a popular fast growing ground cover plant. Its grass-like gray-green foliage forms a dense, weed-choking mat that serves as an effective ground cover in large plantings. It needs full sunshine and good soil drainage, but other than that is quite unfussy about conditions. It makes a good erosion-prevention plant on slopes and banks, and is a lovely edging, front-of-the-border standout, and a good container choice as well.

Sow Dianthus flower seeds indoors 4 - 6 weeks before last frost. Use sterile starter mix, and sow the Dianthus seed on top, covering lightly with soil. Transplant seedlings outdoors after frost season has passed. For directly sowing ground cover seeds outdoors, wait until danger of frost is over, and directly sow into prepared beds. Lightly cover 1/16 inch and keep seeds moist.

Delightful Perennial

How to Grow

Sow dianthus seed indoors 4 - 6 weeks before the last expected frost. Use a sterile starter mix and surface sow seeds before covering lightly with soil. Keep seeds moist until germination. Under proper conditions, seeds will germinate in 1-2 weeks. Transplant established seedlings outdoors after all danger of frost has passed. For directly sowing these seeds outdoors, wait until danger of frost has passed, and directly sow seed into prepared beds. Lightly cover 1/16 inch and keep seeds moist.

• Environment: full sun
• Soil: well-drained w' pH 6.0-7.2
• Sowing rate: 2-3 seeds per plant

Plant Specifications

Dianthus Plumarius is a perennial flowering plant that grows in USDA zones 4 through 8. This is a low-growing variety of dianthus that serves well as a ground cover, and it can spread to fill in unsightly areas of the garden.

• Bloom color: mix
• Bloom season: summer
• Plant height: 6 inches