Dianthus Firewitch
Dianthus ‘Firewitch’ in flower in May.
* Common name: Dianthus Firewitch(R)
* Botanical name: Dianthus gratianopolitanus
* What it is: A sun-loving, low-growing perennial flower with narrow, blue-green leaves and bright pink flowers in May and June. Grows in a slowly spreading mat.
* Size: 10 inches tall, 2 feet wide.
* Where to use: Makes a nice front-of-bed edging plant in any sunny border or south- or west-facing foundation. Also a good rock-garden plant.
* Care: Keep damp the first season until established, then water usually needed only in a bad drought. Scatter balanced organic granular fertilizer such as Flower-tone or Plant-tone over the bed in early spring. Spent flowers can be lightly sheared off in summer. Cut back foliage that has browned at end of winter but never all the way to the ground. Let green foliage alone. Plants can be dug and divided in early spring or early fall.
* Great partner: Purple salvia, purple iris or lavender lilacs.